Digvijaya Singh targets party colleague in MP

As cracks surfaced in the Madhya Pradesh Congress over alleged interference in the state government by Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh, the senior politician asked his critic, forest minister Umang Singhar, to speak to chief minister Kamal Nath about his grievances.

Singhar has accused Singh of running the government from “behind the curtains”, has written to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi alleging that he was trying to destabilise the government. Continuing his attack on Tuesday, the minister accused Singh of blackmailing the government and also claimed that illegal mining in the state runs under his protection. “My simple comment is he should talk to the chief minister, Kamal Nath, who happens to be Pradesh Congress Committee chief too”, said Singh.

Singh denied all the charges made by Singhar and said he has done nothing wrong by writing to ministers about issues raised by the people. “I am an MP and I can seek appointment with ministers to sort out issues,” he said, adding that he had written to all the ministers including his son Jaivardhan Singh, who is in charge of the urban development department.

Singhar received support from former state Congress chief Arun Yadav. Another minister in MP government, P C Sharma, criticised his cabinet colleague.

State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “Chief minister Kamal Nath is not able to run the government and the minister said what is known to all — that it’s Digvijaya who is running the government. But problem is amid all this chaos in the government, public is suffering.”