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Tag: Kamal Nath

  • Kamal Nath’s “proud to be a Hindu, but not a fool” statement sparks political row in Madhya Pradesh

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: A political controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh over the state Congress president Kamal Nath’s statement, “I’m proud to be a Hindu, but am not a fool.”

    The ex MP CM and former union minister made the statement reportedly while addressing a state level advocates meeting in the state party headquarters on Sunday, a day before senior Supreme Court advocate Vivek Tankha filed his nomination papers for re-election to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

    “I say with pride that I’m a Hindu, but I’m not a fool. For us religion isn’t the basis of politics, but is linked to our sentiments. We dont make political event out of religion, as it’s an event only for our individual families,” Nath had reportedly said on Sunday.

    He also recounted that when he built the Hanuman Temple housing giant Hanuman idol in his parliamentary and assembly constituency Chhindwara some years back, he did not publicise it as a political event.

    However, Nath’s statement was enough to give the ruling BJP the much needed ammo to target state Congress leadership over the issue.

    “Neither the BJP nor the state government has ever considered him (Nath) a fool. May be it’s due to internal issues within his own party, that he(Nath) has made the unwanted statement. All we can say is that the forum he chose to explain about being a Hindu wasn’t appropriate. Be it Kamal Nath or Rahul Gandhi, they’re just Chunavi Hindus (Hindus at times of polls) who wear a janeyu or sport a tilak only at times of polls,” state’s home minister Narottam Mishra said.

    “Kamal Nath is an Ichchadhari Hindu (wishful Hindu), who remains silent over the issue of Ram Setu, goes silent when his friend (Digvijaya Singh) questions the date of foundation of Ram Temple at Ayodhya,  is in silence on 1984 genocide of Sikhs, conviction and punishment to Yasin Malik and also mute over the Gyanwapi-Kashi Vishwanath issue,” Mishra, also the state government spokesperson said.

    However, defending his leader’s controversial statement, the state Congress spokesperson Ajay Singh Yadav said, “it’s not a matter of being a smaller or bigger Hindu. By his statements, our leader meant to convey that it’s the BJP which by linking religion with politics is fooling people.”

    Yadav also questioned that if the BJP is so committed to Hinduism, why did induct ex SP MP Naresh Agrawal (who in 2017 linked alcohol with Hindu gods and goddesses) in its ranks in UP.

    Amid  the war of words between the Congress and BJP over Nath’s “proud to be Hindu, but not a fool” statement, the ruling BJP seems to have found a way out of the attack on the state government by Nath and his party over OBC reservation in upcoming local bodies polls in the state.

  • Madhya Pradesh Congress decides to fight 2023 Assembly polls under Kamal Nath’s leadership

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders on Monday unanimously decided to contest the 2023 Assembly polls in the state under the leadership of former chief minister Kamal Nath.

    All senior Congress leaders unanimously told Nath he has to lead the party in the 2023 Assembly elections and all of them are committed with full vigor to fight the polls and to form the government in his leadership, a state Congress statement said.

    The decision, incidentally, was taken in a meeting chaired by Nath at his residence.

    In a tweet in Hindi, former Union minister and ex-state Congress president Arun Yadav said the 2023 polls will be fought against BJP misrule under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Kamal Nath.

    Later talking to reporters, state Congress media department chairman Jitu Patwari said the party will contest the 2023 Assembly polls on issues like the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s misrule, corruption, farm crisis.

    The economy was in distress, social harmony was affected and youth as well as farmers were facing problems, he alleged, adding that a plan has been chalked out for the Congress to hold agitations under Nath on people’s issues.

    Former MP finance minister Tarun Bhanot said the financial condition of the state, which has a debt of over Rs 4 lakh crore, had worsened, while price rise was distressing people.

    The Congress will raise awareness among people on inflation, farmers’ problems and unemployment in a major way, Bhanot said.

    The meeting was attended by senior party leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Suresh Pachouri, Kantilal Bhuria, Ajay Singh, Arun Yadav, Jitu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh, among others.

  • Madhya Pradesh: After Digvijaya Singh video on unity surfaces on social media, BJP says Kamal Nath is target

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: A video showing Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh exhorting party leaders to stand united failing which it would be tough to find workers post the 2023 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh surfaced on social media on Sunday, leading to the ruling BJP saying it was yet another example of “groupism” gripping the grand old party.

    The video, which has been purportedly shot in Ratlam, has Singh telling party workers about the urgent need for unity.

    “You are not ready to sit together. I am here but you are standing separately…This will not do. I am telling you the election of 2023 (Assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh) will be the last one. If you will not contest elections honestly then be ready to sit at home. The Congress will not make a comeback and even finding workers (for the party) will be hard,” he says in the video.

    Ratlam District Congress (City) president Mahendra Kataria told PTI Singh was speaking to party workers outside the local circuit house on Saturday.

    “On Saturday morning, Singh told party workers who had come to meet him to gather at the lawn. He expressed displeasure after seeing the workers who came from Jaora (a town in Ratlam district) standing in groups separately. So, he told them to be united,” Kataria said.

    Mocking the Congress over the video, state BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said Singh was highlighting groupism in the party and that the video was aimed at unseating Kamal Nath as the state unit president.

    “Singh already knows the truth that it is a distant dream for Congress to regain power in MP in 2023. He knows his party will become non-existent after that. However, Singh purposefully mentioned groupism in the party in the video to highlight that all this was happening under the leadership of Kamal Nath,” Agrawal claimed.

  • Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath meets Sonia Gandhi, to interact with party cells on return

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Monday met his party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, with insiders stating here that the agenda included “revitalizing” workers and cadre for the 2023 Assembly polls.

    MP Congress general secretary and media in charge KK Mishra told PTI that Nath and Gandhi met for an hour in New Delhi.

    “After returning from Delhi, Nathji is going to hold separate meetings with the office bearers of state party’s women cell, Scheduled Tribe wing, National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Scheduled Caste group on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday respectively,” Mishra informed.

    The meeting has come at a time when the Congress is holding a Jan Jagran Abhiyan, a mass outreach programme that started on November 14 and is scheduled to continue till November 29, against the Narendra Modi government on issues like inflation, fuel price rise etc with people being asked to answer a 10-point questionnaire.

    In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress had managed to unseat the BJP but a rebellion by MLAs close to Jyotiraditya Scindia brought down the Kamal Nath government in March last year.

  • Madhya Pradesh Congress to set up outfit for 16-20 age group; BJP mocks move

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Congress is set to form a new “non-political” outfit called the Bal Congress whose members will be in the 16-20 age group, a party functionary said on Saturday.

    The outfit will be formed on Sunday, to coincide with the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, celebrated nationwide as Children’s Day or Bal Diwas.

    “The party has outfits like NSUI for people above the age of 21. Bal Congress will be for those in the 16-20 age group. It will be set up to mark Bal Diwas. State unit chief Kamal Nath will formally launch the new organisation,” MP Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta told PTI.

    “Bal Congress will not be a political outfit. Young people associated with this organisation will be taught the history of the Congress as well as that of the freedom struggle. It will spread the message of patriotism and nation-building,” he added.

    These adolescents will be taught about subjects like art of speech, personality development and communication skills, and kin of freedom fighters will also be contacted, he said, adding that former minister and Congress MLA Bala Bachchan has been made in charge of this new outfit.

    Mocking the move, MP BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, “This is ridiculous. I think most Congress leaders are behaving in a childish manner, so senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi should also be made members of this outfit.”

  • Grieving parents contest Bhopal hospital blaze toll; political slugfest starts

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  The kin of many infants admitted at the fire-hit Kamla Nehru Government Hospital in Bhopal and the opposition Congress have alleged that the toll was much higher than four deaths, a charge denied by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government.

    “Hospital and government are lying as many more newborns, including my four-day-old child, who were admitted at the unit where the fire happened, died. My child was to be discharged on Monday, but didn’t come out of the hospital alive,” mourned Bhopal resident Shailendra with the body of his newborn on the lap.

    MP minister Vishwas Kailash Sarang meetsfamilies at the hospital on Tuesday | ptiLeader of Opposition and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath alleged that the casualty figures are being suppressed by the government like during the second wave of the Covid pandemic.

    “I spoke with many parents who are still searching for their missing newborns and infants but are not being allowed entry in the fire-hit critical care facilities. The actual toll is much more than four being reported by the government,” the Congress veteran said.

    “Contrary to the medical education minister’s claims that only 40 infants were admitted at the fire-hit paediatric unit, there were 140-150 patients at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) on the third floor. We demand a probe by a sitting high court judge in place of the probe which is being overseen by a senior state bureaucrat.”

    But, Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang maintained that the Monday night’s blaze claimed four lives.

    “There were 40 children admitted to the fire-hit unit, and all were rescued by fire-fighters and hospital staff. But due to severity of their existing health complications, four of them couldn’t be saved. SNCU and PICU attend to severely ill infants. Many such kids die despite best efforts of doctors in such units. It won’t be correct to assume that all deaths were the result of the blaze,” Sarang asserted.

    A high-level probe was ordered and Rs 4 lakh announced to each of the four bereaved families, the minister assured the tragedy-hit households.

  • Shivraj strengthens his stamp over Kamal Nath

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  In what was billed as the battle of heavyweights, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan  outsmarted Leader of Opposition Kamal Nath as the ruling BJP outperformed the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan came all out in the campaign trail. In contrast, Nath not only joined the campaign trail late, but also largely confined himself to addressing lesser rallies.

    While Chouhan addressed 39 rallies between September 29 and October 27 (maximum 8 in Prithvipur assembly seat, Nath addressed merely 13 rallies between October 12 and October 17.  Not only did 74-year-old Kamal Nath hit the campaign trail nearly two weeks after 62-year-old Chouhan did, but also addressed 26 less meetings than the present CM.

    And that wasn’t all, as Nath just stood confined to addressing a few rallies, while Chouhan followed the rallies with night halts at the houses of BJP workers at five places. “These polls have once again established that the CM is the most charismatic BJP leader in the state. His night halt in Jobat-ST seat, which has been a Congress citadel, played a seminal role in boosting BJP’s chances.

    The night halt was followed by early morning chaupal with tribals, which not only boosted BJP prospects among tribals, but also compelled the BJP workers to shelve their anger over fielding of imported candidate (Sulochana Rawat) instead of a core BJP candidate and work unitedly for the party’s success,” said Chandrabhan Singh Bhadauria, a senior journalist who extensively covered the Jobat-ST by-poll.Another Congress Digvijaya Singh too suffered major jolt due to the loss in Khandwa Lok Sabha and Jobat-ST seat, where electioneering was largely supervised by him.

  • Big win for Shivraj Singh Chouhan as BJP trounces Congress 3-1 in Madhya Pradesh bypolls

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: In what was seen as Shivraj Vs Kamal Nath battle, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister has outsmarted the Leader of Opposition.

    The CM, who is undoubtedly BJP’s most popular face in the state after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned to the full against Nath, who not only joined the campaign trail late, but also largely remained confined to addressing lesser rallies than Chouhan.

    While Chouhan addressed 39 rallies between September 29 and October 27 (maximum 8 in Prithvipur assembly seat and minimum five in Jobat-ST assembly seat, besides 17 rallies in eight assembly segments of Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency), Kamal Nath addressed merely 13 rallies between October 12 and October 17. 

    Not only did 74-year-old Kamal Nath hit the campaign trail nearly two weeks after 62-year-old Chouhan did, but also addressed 26 fewer meetings than the present CM.

    And that wasn’t all. As Kamal Nath just stood confined to addressing a few rallies, Chouhan followed the rallies with night halts at the houses of BJP workers at five places in the by-poll bound assembly and parliamentary constituencies.

    ROUNDUP | BJP consolidates in Assam, MP; Congress wrests seats from it in four states; TMC reigns in Bengal

    “These polls have once again established that the CM is the most charismatic BJP leader in the state. His night halt in Jobat-ST seat, which has since decades been a Congress citadel, played a seminal role in boosting BJP’s chances. The night halt was followed by early morning chaupal with tribals, which not only boosted BJP prospects among tribals but also compelled the BJP workers to shelve their anger over the fielding of imported candidate (ex-Congress MLA Sulochana Rawat) instead of a core BJP candidate and work unitedly for the party’s success. On the other hand, Nath remained more in the air and less on the ground, sticking largely to the virtual world of Twitter,” said Chandrabhan Singh Bhadauria, a senior journalist, who extensively covered the Jobat-ST by-poll.

    Even in the Raigaon-SC seat of Satna district (a BJP citadel) which was the lone seat won by the Congress, the CM had started working on ground zero, even before the by-polls were announced. “It was largely due to faulty candidate selection which led to internal differences within the local party organisation and the absence of a BSP candidate that helped the Congress candidate win the by-election. There was no decline in the CM’s popularity anywhere in the constituency. Had the CM not toured the constituency proactively, the BJP candidate would have lost by much bigger than the present 12,000-plus votes margin,” Satna district-based political commentator Vishnukant Tripathi said.

    ALSO READ | Karnataka bypolls: Congress wins Hangal in CM Bommai’s home district, BJP win in Sindagi

    Not only was ex-CM Kamal Nath outclassed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but another Congress stalwart and ex-CM Digvijaya Singh too suffered major jolt due to the loss in Khandwa Lok Sabha and Jobat-ST seat, where electioneering was largely supervised by him. Particularly in the Khandwa Lok Sabha seat, the former MLA Raj Narayan Singh Purni was given the Congress ticket due to proximity to Singh only.

    The 3-1 by-poll win not only ended up becoming a shot in the arm for Chouhan (ending speculations about his replacement as CM), but also once again brought to the fore organisational capabilities and poll winning strategies of young state BJP president VD Sharma. “Though he came under heavy criticism over outsiders Sulochana Rawat (who won from Jobat-ST) and Shishupal Yadav (who won from Prithvipur) being fielded as BJP candidates instead of core BJP leaders, but his micro-level planning ensured the party’s triumph on three of the four seats,” said political journalist Chandrabhan Singh Bhaduaria.

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    The loss of three out of four seats (two of which were won by Congress in 2018 polls) also once exposed the hollowness of the tall claims of the Congress party of being united in the by-polls. In Khandwa, fielding Raj Narayan Singh Purni instead of ex-MP and former union minister Arun Yadav, was seen to have largely prompted first-time Congress MLA Sachin Birla to switch to BJP just six days before the by-poll. Importantly, it was Birla’s Barwaha assembly segment (one of the eight seats making the Khandwa LS seat) from where the BJP led by maximum margin.

    In Jobat assembly seat, the Congress being a divided house became official, after the loser Congress candidate Mahesh Patel blamed some senior Congress leaders for the defeat. “Some Congress leaders have contributed to the party’s defeat, I’ll submit a report about it to state party chief Kamal Nath,” Patel said.        

    Results:

    Khandwa Lok Sabha seat: BJP’s Gyaneshwar Patil defeated Congress’s Raj Narayan Singh Purni by 82,140 votes (2019 LS polls: Congress won by 2.73 lakh plus votes)
    Jobat-ST assembly seat: BJP’s Sulochana Rawat defeated Congress’s Mahesh Patel by 6,104 votes. (2018 polls: Congress won by 2,056 votes)
    Prithvipur assembly seat: BJP’s Shishupal Yadav defeated Congress’s Nitendra Singh Rathore by 15,687 votes. (2018 polls: Congress defeated SP by 7620 votes)
    Raigaon-SC assembly seat: Congress’s Kalpana Verma defeated BJP’s Pratima Bagri by 12,290 votes (2018 polls: Cong won by 17,421 votes)

  • Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh will have to quit once results of bypolls are out: Kamal Nath

    By PTI

    KHANDWA: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Monday alleged Shivraj Singh Chouhan government stopped the loan waiver scheme launched by the previous government led by him after coming to power last year.

    He also said Chouhan will have to quit the post of chief minister after the results of the bypolls- for one Lok Sabha seat and three Assembly segments- are out on November 2.

    Canvassing for a Congress candidate for the Khndwa Lok Sabha seat, Nath claimed that farm loans of 27 lakh farmers were waived when he was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh (from December 2018 to March 2020).

    “After forming the government we waived the farm loan of 27 lakh farmers including 1.21 lakh farmers in Khargone, 1.17 lakh in Dewas, 1.72 lakh in Burhanpur and 58,000 in Khandwa.However, soon after BJP came to power under Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the government stopped the loan waiver scheme,” Nath said addressing a rally in support of Congress candidate Rajnarayan Singh Purni in Dhoolkot and Punasa towns under the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency where the bypoll is scheduled to be held on October 30.

    Nath said that even today many tribals in the Khandwa area are landless.

    “When Congress returns to power in 2023, we will provide land lease to all the tribals in Madhya Pradesh,” the former chief minister said.

    Nath claimed he came to Dhoolkot defying the administration’s advice to not go due to bad weather.

    Notably, Chouhan was also scheduled to address a rally in Dhoolkot, cancelled it at the last moment due to the inclement weather.

    Criticising Chouhan, whom Congress had labelled “ghoshnaveer” (a person who makes only announcements) in the run-up to the 2018 assembly polls, Nath said in the last 16 years Chouhan made 22,000 announcements, but now his time of making announcements is coming to an end.

    “After the results of the bypolls come out on November 2, Chouhan will have to leave the post of the chief minister,” he claimed.

    Nath said in the last 21 years, BJP had won seven out of eight times in the elections held in the Khandwa area.

    “However, this time, the people of Khandwa will script a new history as they are tired of BJP’s false promises and announcements,” he said.

    The Khandwa Lok Sabha byelection was necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP MP Nandkumar Singh Chauhan.

    Besides, bypolls will be also held on October 30 for three vacant assembly seats of Prithvipur, Raigaon and Jobat.

  • Madhya Pradesh: Bypoll results will give a message to nation, says Congress’ Kamal Nath

    By PTI

    KHANDWA: The results of the upcoming bypolls in Madhya Pradesh will give a message to the nation that people can’t be fooled every time, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said on Tuesday.

    Addressing a rally in Khandwa, where a bypoll is slated for October 30, Nath also hit out at the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in MP and said people were distressed due to rising prices and a downturn in the economy.

    “Every election is a festival of democracy. These bypolls will neither affect nor make any government, but you have to give a message to the nation that people of Khandwa can’t be fooled.

    They understand everything and will give a message to secure their future through these bypolls,” Nath said.

    Nath said MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had, in the last 16 years, made some 22,000 false announcements, and was somebody who “carries a coconut in his pocket, which he breaks whenever he gets the opportunity and then announces some development work”.

    ALSO READ | 55 candidates in fray for bypolls to one Lok Sabha constituency, three assembly seats in MP

    He said people should understand Chouhan’s “politics of falsehood”, adding that the CM’s “acting skills” could help him get roles in the film industry.

    Ridiculing Chouhan’s oratory, Nath said the former’s “eyes and ears don’t work, only his mouth”.

    Nath alleged that the state government was hiding the actual death toll in the COVID-19 pandemic, and had not given most compensation either to kin.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of transferring Rs 15 lakh in the accounts of people, creating two crore jobs and doubling farmers’ incomes, but he now mentions only nationalism despite the BJP not having a single freedom fighter, Nath claimed.

    “Goods and Services Tax (GST), demonetization and inflation are works carried out by them (Centre). The rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas are known to everyone. They ask me to give a record of my 15 months as MP CM, and I keep asking them about what the BJP did in 17 years in power here,” Nath said.

    Senior Congress leaders Arun Yadav, Rakesh Chaturvedi, Mukesh Nayak, Jaivardhan Singh and Jeetu Patwari, among others, also addressed the meeting.

    Besides Khandwa LS seat, bypolls will also be held in Jobat, Raigaon and Prithvipur Assembly seats in MP on October 30, with results being declared on November 2.