Nisha Bangre is a former deputy collector in Madhya Pradesh. (Photo: Facebook)
Nisha Bangre, a former deputy collector in Madhya Pradesh, gave up a promising career in the civil services to join the Congress.
Denied a ticket in the state assembly elections and then the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Bangre told The Indian Express she feels betrayed by the party and wants her job back.
"I was brave enough to leave my job. They played politics with me. The Congress made me quit my job. The BJP government delayed my resignation. I am facing politics now. I am struggling. Whatever is my fate, I accept it now. This was a big betrayal. This was injustice," she told The Indian Express.
For civil servants aspiring to be politicians, Bangre had this to say, "If they are willing to subject themselves and their family to financial, emotional, psychological trauma, they can join politics. This is the toughest career. Passing an exam is easy; politics is a difficult path."
Bangre was posted as Deputy Collector in Chhatarpur district. While serving as the sub-divisional magistrate in Lavkushnagar region, she quit her job, allegedly because she was denied leave to attend the International All Religion Peace Conference and World Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Betul.
She had then hoped she would be able to contest the Assembly election from Amla seat of Betul district. "When I got posted in Amla, people suggested I should join politics. I wanted to make pro-people policies," she said.
During the assembly elections campaign, Bangre was approached by the Congress party, with former state president Kamal Nath leading the push, she said.
"The Congress approached me, I did want to go at the time. I did not have a political background, neither am I from a financially strong family. Then I thought, if I have an opportunity, I will take it up. In the end I could not get a ticket. If Kamal Nath wanted he could have given me a ticket, but he didn’t because of local politics. It was the Congress Betul leadership which was scared of an educated woman joining politics," she said.
"I could have become a collector and not struggled so much. In politics I was attacked, they called me greedy," she said.
After Kamal Nath resigned from the post of the state Congress president, a new leadership was installed by the high command, which dissolved most of the postings made during Nath’s tenure.
"After the result there was a big change. They dissolved all the committees. I had no responsibility. My family thought I should return to my job. If the party had given me a ticket, at least all this would have been worth it. They gave me the post of a spokesperson; I wanted serious organisational duties and not to appear on TV," she said.
With many Congress leaders jumping ship and joining the BJP, Bangre said is open to joining the ruling party too. "I am thinking on those lines," she said.
The Congress party said they offered Bangre all possible responsibilities. "People joining the party cannot come without the condition of getting a ticket. They have to work hard and she was given responsibilities. It takes time to build a career in politics. We supported her through her struggle. If she wants to leave, we can’t stop her," said a Congress spokesperson.
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