Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar unit of the Congress held a meeting in Greater Noida on Tuesday to placate party workers who have objected to the candidature of Arvind Singh, whom they described as an “outsider”. The Congress’s Gautam Budh Nagar president, Mahendra Nagar, said most party workers had accepted the high command’s decision except for a handful who continued to protest against the choice. Singh termed the protest a “BJP-sponsored gimmick” to mislead party workers. “I would request the party workers not to get confused,” he was quoted as saying at the meeting.Virendra Singh Guddu, a party functionary, said: “It’s unfortunate for Gautam Budh Nagar that each time, a candidate is parachuted from outside. Party workers at the grassroots do not recognise them and find it difficult to establish coordination with the candidate.” Guddu added he was a faithful member of the party and would lend support to whosoever contested on a Congress ticket. Sources said many party workers had been raising slogans against Arvind and even tried to disrupt the meeting. The party’s decision to nominate Arvind Singh from Gautam Budh Nagar has brought the rift within the party out in the open. The party workers have said the high command should have chosen a local instead of opting for an “outsider”.Arvind’s father Jaiveer Singh Chauhan and mother Raj Kumari Chauhan had contested several elections on BSP tickets earlier. They joined the BJP later. Arvind has said he has chosen to contest for the Congress because he likes the party’s ideology.

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