BHOPAL, Oct 17: A video of Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath where he is asking party men to “tear clothes” of his colleague Digvijaya Singh over denial of ticket to a leader from Shivpuri fuelled talks of a rift in the party over selection of nominees even as the two former CMs sought to make light of the episode and on Tuesday put up a united face ahead of the assembly polls.
In the viral video, Nath is heard telling a group of people, said to be supporters of party leader Virendra Raghuvanshi, that he had left the issue of (selection of Raghuvanshi’s seat) to Digvijaya Singh and his MLA-son Jaivardhan Singh which might have caused some confusion.
The state Congress president is then heard telling the group to “tear clothes” of Digvijaya Singh (over the ticket denial issue).
Raghuvanshi, a former BJP legislator, joined the Congress earlier this month. He had sought a Congress ticket from the Shivpuri assembly seat, but the party fielded KP Singh, a six-time MLA from Pichhore, from there.
After Raghuvanshi was denied the ticket, his supporters gathered at Nath’s residence in Bhopal on Monday. In the video, Nath was talking to Raghuvanshi’s supporters when he made the remarks about former CM Digvijaya Singh and his son.
As the clip surfaced on social media platforms and fuelled speculation about a rift in the opposition party over ticket distribution, Digvijaya Singh put out a tweet on his official X account, calling for “patient solution”.
On Tuesday, both Nath and former CM
Singh were seen together at the release of the Congress manifesto in the state capital for the November 17 polls and they talked about the video’s content in a lighter vein.
Latching on the video, the ruling BJP and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan targeted the Congress and said the entire episode has exposed the “real face” of the opposition party.
Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh sought to downplay the controversy. The Rajya Sabha MP, while tagging X handles of Nath, the BJP and the Congress, said, “When a family grows large, there is both collective happiness and collective conflict. Wisdom says that elders should patiently find a solution. God also supports those who have a combination of heart (mann) and hard work.” Speaking at the manifesto release programme, Nath said he first wanted to address media queries about his “tear clothes of Digvijaya Singh” remarks.
The former Union minister said his bond with Digvijaya Singh goes beyond politics.(PTI)