Weeks after Bhanupratappur bypoll, the Congress seems to have woken up to wrest control on its dwindling internal discipline. The grand old party issued a showcause notice to tribal veteran Arvind Netam for his alleged anti-party activities.

Congress Disciplinary Committee chief Tariq Anwar issued the showcause notice to former Union minister Netam for his alleged anti-party activities during the Bhanupratappur bypoll held on 5 December. He, among several party leaders, was allegedly instrumental in fielding Sarva Adivasi Samaj candidate Akbar Ram Korram who secured more than 23 thousand votes.

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Interestingly, a similar notice has also been served on PCC General Secretary Amarjeet Chawala who is considered very close to PCC president Mohan Markam, a Singh Deo confidante.

Netam, who was a Lok Sabha MP from Kanker in north Bastar for five terms, is at loggerheads with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for a long time now. He has, on several occasions, slammed the Baghel Government for its policies and actions on issues critical to tribal lives and environment.

The 81-year-old tribal-leader turned his back on the Baghel dispensation when it became amply clear that the CM had no regard left either for Netam or the issues he was raising, one of his close confidantes told SNS.

When contacted, Netam said he has not received the notice so far. He will appropriately reply once he gets it, he claimed.

The Congress in Chhattisgarh has been grappling with unprecedented dissensions within the party. Furthermore, the strife over the much-hyped fifty-fifty power-sharing formula and the subsequent marginalisation of Health Minister T S Singh Deo has not only reaffirmed a disturbing trend of one-upmanship but has also severely diminished the supremacy of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in the party.