Congress hit with new infighting row in M.P. after Digvijaya Singh refutes Jitu Patwari’s claims over Ujjain land ‘scam’
It is one embarrassment after another for the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress in the past few weeks and the latest one comes even
It is one embarrassment after another for the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress in the past few weeks and the latest one comes even as the party tries to corner Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the alleged land scam by Mr. Yadav’s family members in his hometown of Ujjain. In the first half of June, the party had to take a bitter pill after the nomination of its Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan was rejected for failing to mention a court notice issued to her in Hyderabad. Apart from accusing the BJP of “stealing the seat”, rumours that it could have been a result of the Congress’ infighting also made rounds. The end of June brought another situation that the party is currently busy dealing with after senior leader and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh fact-checked an allegation by State Congress president Jitu Patwari had made against Mr. Yadav. This fuelled a series of meetings and press conferences apart from some leaders publicly targeting Mr. Singh while the BJP jumped to take advantage of the situation. Following an investigation by an English Daily that exposed the alleged land scam in Ujjain, Mr. Patwari on June 24 further alleged that government land worth ₹500 crore in Ujjain had been given to a trust called Veer Bharat Nyas for a token amount of ₹1 and that Mr. Yadav’s cultural advisor Shriram Tiwari was a trustee.
Mr. Patwari made the allegations during a press conference with party’s national media head at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi However, days later, Mr. Singh addressed reporters in Ujjain and refuted Mr. Patwari’s claim. “An allegation was made recently that land was given to a trust in ₹1 It [the land] has not been given to a private trust. It’s a government trust. I have gotten [documents] on that. I don’t come without putting in research. The e officio chairman of the trust is the Chief Minister. So, this charge is not right,” Mr. Singh said, while adding there were several “dalaal (brokers)” who make false allegations and extort money. The statement alarmed various senior M.P. Congress leaders and MLAs as it hampered the party’s efforts to take on a formidable BJP in the State. While a bunch of Congress leaders slammed Mr. Singh on social media, the party rushed to call a meeting of its political affairs committee (PAC), where several leaders are learnt to have raised the issue. Some leaders, however, claim that a sitting of the PAC was already scheduled. As per two Congress insiders and a local report, terms like “sleeper cell” were used in the meeting by some leaders while others urged the leaders to have coordination in their statements.
The BriefWire