Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday referred the open spat between Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Umang Singhar and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh to the disciplinary committee, said Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
This emerged after Mr. Nath called on Ms. Gandhi at her residence to brief her on the war of words between the former two-time CM and now a Rajya Sabha member and the Minister.
In a letter to Ms. Gandhi, Mr. Singhar alleged that Mr. Singh was trying to “blackmail and destabilise” the nine-month-old Kamal Nath government.
Sources said that Mr. Singhar too had sought appointment with Ms. Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi to explain his side of the story.
“The president is upset with the latest developments. The issue has been handed over to the A.K. Antony committee,” Mr. Nath told presspersons after meeting the party chief.
Mr. Singhar had described Mr. Singh as “Super CM” after he started writing to Ministers asking for “reports on development work and follow-up on his recommendations”.
“What is wrong in the letter if I want to know about the action on these letters in accordance with law. This is my responsibility as an MP,” Mr. Singh said earlier.
For the past one week, the State unit has virtually faced an implosion with MLAs and Ministers targeting their colleagues over charges of corruption.
Apart from Mr. Singhar, Gohad MLA Ranbir Jatav and Ambah MLA Kamlesh Jatav had made startling allegations against State Health Minister Tulsiram Silawat.
Many lawmakers have gone public about rampant corruption involving sand mafia and liquor vends.
“We campaigned against these issues during the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government and now we are doing the same. That’s why Singhar’s comments find resonance among the public,” said a senior leader from Bhopal.
In-charge summoned
Upset with the infighting, Ms. Gandhi earlier in the day had also summoned party State in-charge Dipak Babaria.
Mr. Babaria submitted a detailed report over the statements made by the State leaders and also mentioned some Ministers’ complaints against Mr. Digvijaya Singh.
“She has authorised me to take the strictest action against such people,” said Mr. Babaria. “We are a political party, nothing wrong in having several leaders and factions. The BJP has seven or more factions,” he said.
