Madhya Pradesh Congress' 11-6 Office Hours Notice Sparks BJP Criticism

Bhopal: A notice board displaying the time of opening and closure of the state Congress headquarters here has created a flutter in the political circles here with the ruling BJP calling it ‘corporatisation’ of the grand old party.

It was informed in the notice board that the party would function for six days a week from 11 am to six pm and it would remain closed on Sundays.

The notice has not only invited derision from the BJP but also created a flutter in the Congress.

“I wonder why the Congress party felt to function like a corporate body instead of a political party by choosing to work for six days in a week and seven hours daily.

The party leadership may have thought it wise not to devote whole time to rebuild the party since it hardly has any future. Hopefully, the ‘work time’ for the party is not reduced in coming days”, state BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal quipped.

BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedy called it a ‘vacation syndrome’ manifested in state Congress president Jitu Patwari.

“Mr Patwari has been induced by the syndrome from his boss Rahul Gandhi who has a penchant for going on vacations every now and then”, Mr Chaturvedy said.

A strong section of Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh has also taken exception to the decision by the state party leadership to make Congress an ’11 to six party with weekly off’.

“A political party does not function like a government office or a private company. The notice declaring the working time of the party is simply ridiculous”, a senior Congress said, requesting not to be quoted.

Congress’ media wing chairman and former minister Mukesh Nayak however described the criticism to the notice by BJP as ‘silly’ and ‘nonsense’.

“The notice was only meant for the staff of the party. It is not even worth taking note of”, he said.