'I swear my allegiance to Sonia ji, Rahul ji', say West Bengal Congress MLAs on a stamp paper

Kolkata: After facing defeat in the just-concluded Assembly Elections, the Congress in West Bengal has reportedly asked its newly-elected MLAs to swear allegiance to party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.

As per a report in The Indian Express, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury asked the MLAs on Tuesday to sign an undertaking on a Rs 100-stamp paper “swearing unqualified allegiance” to the party led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress had contested the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2016 in alliance with the Left.

The MLAs were also made to give an undertaking that they would not “get involved in any anti-party activity”.

As per the report, legislators, district presidents, state party leaders and Chowdhury took the decision unanimously to make the MLAs sign the undertaking, at a meeting.

“It is not a bond which we have forced people (to sign) to take action against them if they fail to live up to the conditions. It is more of a voluntary pledge by partymen as a gesture of their allegiance. As far as voicing their concerns, there is and will always be ample scope for it within the party because there can always be disagreements. Just that they should not tom-tom it,” Chowdhury told the newspaper.

Among many things, the two-page stamp paper states: “I do swear my unqualified allegiance to Indian National Congress led by Hon’ble Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji and Hon’ble Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi Ji.”

It adds: “I, as a member of the legislative assembly, will not get involved in any anti-party activity. Even if I do not agree with any party policy and/or party decision, I will not make any negative comment thereon and/or I shall not take any negative action to the detriment of the party. In such a scenario, I shall resign from my post of MLA before making such comment and/or taking such action.”