The Malda district Congress leadership has decided to apply a stringent screening process before inducting Trinamool Congress leaders, who are seeking political shelter after the BJP virtually shut its doors on them following the change of guard in Bengal.

To regulate the entry of leaders and workers from "other political parties", a reference widely understood to mean Trinamool, the district Congress has laid down six conditions.

While the Congress has a limited political presence across much of Bengal, Malda and Murshidabad continue to remain its strongholds. Although the party failed to win any Assembly constituency in Malda in the recent elections, the Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha seat is with the Congress.

The Congress also has elected representatives in the three-tier panchayat system and organisational units in all 15 blocks of the district.

In the past 15 years, several Congress leaders and workers had switched allegiance to Trinamool to remain aligned with the ruling dispensation. With Trinamool now out of power, many of them are attempting to join either the BJP or the Congress.

However, after repeated signals from the BJP leadership that it would not welcome defectors from Trinamool, many leaders in Malda have begun exploring a return to their former political home in the Congress.

The return journey, however, is unlikely to be easy.

Isha Khan Choudhury, the lone Congress MP from Bengal and the party's Malda district president, has issued a directive outlining six conditions for admitting leaders and workers from other political parties.

According to the directive, applications from prospective entrants will be scrutinised by Congress committees at the block, area and district levels before any approval is granted.

"If the applicants are elected representatives of rural local bodies, their performance and public image will be assessed by the local Congress leadership before any decision is taken," a Congress leader said.

The directive makes it clear that individuals facing allegations of corruption will not be admitted to the party."We have a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption," Khan Choudhury said.

The directive further says that anyone seeking to join the Congress must pledge to work in the interest of the people and uphold the ideals and principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

"The Congress will not become a platform for fulfilling the vested political interests of any individual," Khan Choudhury said.

The party has also made it clear that no application will be considered if the applicant has a criminal record.

Another condition stipulates that prospective entrants cannot impose any terms before joining the party."The joining must be unconditional," Khan Choudhury said.

The directive also emphasises that new entrants must strictly adhere to party discipline, failing which they may be expelled irrespective of their political influence.

The notice, which has also been circulated through the district Congress's social media platforms, has been welcomed by party workers.

Many grassroots leaders have even suggested an additional condition that new entrants should not be given any organisational post immediately after joining and should instead work under loyal Congress leaders for at least three years before being considered for any position.