Congress general secretary in charge of Bihar Gulchain Singh Charak (left) and party leader Premchand Mishra at the news meet in Patna on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, May 27: A senior Congress leader has stirred a hornet’s nest by saying that receiving tickets to contest in elections has nothing to do with the time spent as a party worker.

Alluding to the party’s constitution, the Congress general secretary in charge of Bihar, Gulchain Singh Charak, said: “It does not matter whether the person — seeking party ticket — is a veteran or a fresher. For getting a ticket, there is no hard and fast rule as to how much time a person has spent in the party. The (party) constitution does not say anything on the issue, instead it just talks of a member.”

Charak was talking to reporters on how Jitendra Swami, who was not even a member of the Congress, had been given a ticket to contest next month’s Maharjganj Lok Sabha by-election.

Charak, however, added that if a person wants a post in the organisation, then she/he needs to spend at least three years in the party but “this does not apply when it comes to receiving tickets”.

State party leaders were not convinced though. “Charak should not have spoken like this. The statement is not only unpalatable but also makes a mockery of the sentiments of thousands of dedicated workers who have been working day in and day out to turn the fortunes of the party in the state, hoping that they would be given tickets one day or the other,” a party leader said on condition of anonymity.

He said the statement had put a seal of approval on the trend — since the 2010 Assembly polls — of giving tickets to outsiders and this could continue in future, Maharajganj being a glaring example of imported candidates being given weightage at the time of ticket distribution.

Charak, a member of the Congress Working Committee, alleged that the ruling JD(U) was misusing the state machinery to win the Maharajganj bypoll and asked the Election Commission to keep a tab on the ruling party’s activities.

“We have been carrying out a clean campaign for the Maharajganj bypoll but the ruling party in the state is using state machinery to influence the poll outcome in its favour. Ministers and officials, moving around in civil dress in the constituency, are trying to lure and intimidate voters,” Charak said.