(Picture used for representational purpose)

BHOPAL: Denied a ticket, a former state Congress general secretary attempted suicide in front of Madhavrao Scindia’s bust in Gwalior on Friday afternoon.

Prem Singh Kushwah swallowed poison and was taken to hospital, where his condition was said to be stable. Prem Singh reportedly hoped to bag a ticket in Gwalior and was upset when he lost out and an “outsider”, Madan Singh Kushwah, was fielded from Gwalior Rural.

A ‘suicide note’, allegedly written by Kushwah, went viral after this incident. “Some people are spreading rumours in the city that I am joining BJP. This is false and baseless. I will be working as a Congress worker till my last breath. I am an active Congress worker for 46 years and have remained on important posts. I have been with Scindia for 35 years,” the letter says, and goes on to add: “Our leadership is arrogant and stubborn like a child. I had requested them to honour field workers by giving ticket to one of them or, if suitable, consider me, instead of giving it to ‘foreign birds’.”

Expressing anger at how tickets were distributed, the letter says: “Forming a government doesn’t mean that dedicated party workers should be made to sit at home and the ticket given to someone who abused Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi from a public platform. I condemn the decision to give a ticket to Madan Singh Kushwah, who joined Congress from BSP only one and a half years ago. This has hurt sentiments of Congress workers. In protest against this decision, which is going to have an adverse impact on the party, I am forced to take this extreme step.”

It’s not known if Prem Singh indeed wrote the letter. Police said they will record his statement after permission from doctors.

On Thursday, a BJP worker had attempted self-immolation outside the party office in Jabalpur, angry that Harendra Jeet Singh ‘Babbu’ had been fielded from Jabalpur West yet again. Babbu, three-time MLA Jabalpur West, lost to Congress in 2013 by just 923 votes.

BJP leader Awtar Singh arrived at the BJP office with a can of kerosene around 12.30pm and started raising slogans against Babbu. Police said he doused himself with kerosene but was rescued by party workers and taken to hospital.

