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I hold no portfolios, like Kamaraj: Digvijay

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI JULY 10. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, feels honoured that he is the second Chief Minister in the country after the late Kamaraj of Tamil Nadu, who does hold portfolios.

Inaugurating the `Kamaraj Auditorium' at the Working Women's Forum at Mylapore here, Mr. Singh paid glowing tributes to Kamaraj, who, he said, was the people's Chief Minister, "pro-poor and totally committed to the traditions of Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress".

Kamaraj was the first Chief Minister in the country who did not hold portfolios. Mr. Singh contrasted this with the present-day tendency of cornering as much of power as possible.

Stressing the need for empowering women and ensuring their development, Mr. Singh said there was a traditional belief that God resided wherever there was respect for women. Women worked harder and were more enterprising than men.

Amid cheers from the women, he said women promptly repaid loans, unlike men "who wait till the next elections for the loans to be written off". Even bankers felt that it was better to give loans to women than men.

The TNCC working president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, said Mr. Singh led a simple life.

The former Supreme Court judge, S.Mohan, said Kamaraj could not tolerate the sufferings of the people.

The president, WWF, Jaya Arunachalam, the Vice-Chancellor, Mother Teresa Women's University, Anandhavalli Mahadevan, and the Member-Secretary, Independent Commission for People's Rights and Development, Nandini Azad, spoke.

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