Shivraj Chouhan Taunts Cong Leaders

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday took a swipe at senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, alleging that they have caused more damage to the state than coronavirus.

Reacting to the CM’s statement, Nath urged Chouhan to exercise patience and maintain decorum.

The chief minister made the remark a day after Digvijaya Singh said he is the coronavirus for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Both Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, who hail from Madhya Pradesh, are former chief ministers of the state. While Nath is currently the grand old party’s state unit chief, Singh is a Rajya Sabha member.

Assembly elections in the BJP-ruled state are scheduled to be held by the end of this year.

“He (Singh) has done a perfect comparison. Both Singh and Nath have caused much more damage to the state than the coronavirus. I am surprised that he did not find any other virus for the comparison and found only coronavirus for it,” Chouhan told reporters in the state capital.

He was speaking at the state BJP office where former finance minister Jayant Malaiya’s son, Siddharth Malaiya, was inducted back into the party fold.

Siddharth Malaiya had quit the saffron outfit following differences with the party leadership over denial of ticket in the Damoh Assembly bypolls.

“The coronavirus that created havoc in the lives of the people and ruined the country’s economy…But it was because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that not one, but two vaccines were developed against the virus. Otherwise, Nath had left the people of the state at the mercy of corona. Today, COVID-19 is completely under control,” Chouhan said.

“But more than COVID-19, both Singh and Nath have caused damage to the state and its people. The state was totally ruined. There were no roads, no electricity and no water. Even the state’s growth rate was negative. Unemployment and corruption were prevalent. During more than a year of his government, Nath destroyed and damaged the state,” he added.

But it was good that the BJP came back to power and tried to develop the state in a historic manner, the chief minister said.

Nath advised Chouhan to have patience and maintain decorum of the chief minister’s post.

“I will only say on the remark made by the chief minister against me by linking it with coronavirus that he should behave patiently. There is decorum to be maintained in public life. If he maintains that, then it will be practised mutually,” he told PTI.

Talking to reporters in Indore on Wednesday, Digvijaya Singh said he is the coronavirus for the BJP and the RSS.

He made the remark while reacting to a recent statement by state Water Resources Minister and BJP leader Tulsiram Silawat. Silawat recently described Singh as the “coronavirus of the Congress” and said he prayed to Lord Mahakal (one of 12 jyotirlingas in Ujjain) that the next birth of the 76-year-old Congress leader should be in China, where the infectious viral disease was first detected in 2019.

Hitting back at the state cabinet minister (Silawat), Singh said, “Yes, I am the coronavirus for the BJP and the Sangh.”

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)