Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Madhya Pradesh Congress has brought out masks that taunt turncoat legislators who switched to the BJP recently as part of its bypoll campaign material.
Bypolls are needed in 27 Assembly seats as 25 are vacant after Congress MLAs resigned and joined the BJP, and two due to deaths of legislators.
However, no date has been fixed for the bypolls.
The masks, which have a slogan "Bikau nahi, tikau chahiye, phir se Kamal Nath sarkar chahiye" (we need durable MLAs, not saleable ones, and need Kamal Nath back as Chief Minister), were launched by senior Congress leader and former minister PC Sharma in Gwalior.
"Our 22 MLAs sold themselves and toppled the Congress government. Therefore, we will go and tell people about them through these masks. By toppling the government, they stopped the state's development and allowed coronavirus to spread. The new (BJP) government reduced the health budget at such a time," Mr Sharma said.
During the bypoll campaign, the party will ask people to vote for those who will not sell themselves in this manner, Mr Sharma added.
The Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh fell when 22 MLAs loyal to Congressman-turned BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the House in March, paving way for Shivraj Singh Chouhan to become Chief Minister again.
Three other MLAs quit the Congress and the Assembly over the past couple of weeks.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
