A day after his ‘Nuh-like riots in Madhya Pradesh’ stirred a political row, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Sunday hit out at the BJP saying that once the saffron party senses defeat, it resorts to speaking about two communities and nations.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “When the BJP starts losing, it has only one weapon – Hindu Muslim – Hindustan Pakistan. I appeal to all brothers and sisters of MP to maintain peace. Religion is the path of faith, not politics.”
Singh on Saturday claimed that “communal riots” could be engineering in Madhya Pradesh ahead of upcoming Assembly elections, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is sensing defeat. The remarks have sparked a sharp condemnation from the saffron party, reports PTI.
Speaking at ‘Vidhik Vimarsh 2023’, a gathering of lawyers organised by the state Congress’s Legal and Human Rights Cell in Bhopal, the former CM said, “The way these people caused riots in Nuh in Haryana, they have plans to trigger such riots (in MP) because the BJP knows there is a lot of resentment against it.”
On July 31, communal violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims during the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, a procession organised by the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, in Nuh, Haryana, which soon in a few days spilled to neighbouring Gurugram. Two home guards, an imam at a mosque and a Bajrang Dal member were among the six people who died in the clashes.
Hitting back, state BJP President VD Sharma said, the Congress had no credibility left in his party, reported NDTV.
Dubbing him “Mr Bhantadar (Disaster)”, Sharma said, “he is known for making such baseless allegations.”
“The BJP does politics of development. Digivijaya Singh left Madhya Pradesh in 2003 in a pitiable condition, and it was his party which made development in the region,” Sharma said.
MP Congress chief and former CM Kamal Nath was also present at the event and said corruption is plaguing the state at every level, from panchayats to the Mantralaya (state headquarters).
Earlier, making a startling shift from the Congress party’s stand in Karnataka elections, Digvijaya Singh had said that the Bajrang Dal will not be banned in Madhya Pradesh.
“The Bajrang Dal will not be banned because the organisation may have some good people as well. However, goons who create riots will not be spared,” he had said at the state Congress office.