Singh has not been made minister after Congress coming to power. Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and Chief Minister Kamal Nath have given him assurances several times of ministerial berth and this has annoyed Singh. There are other Congress MLAs too who are angry with the government. The senior Congress leaders have been reiterating that there was no internal conflict but it has come to the fore from the video of Singh. It is clear from Singh’s video that the dissatisfaction in Congress leaders, who could not become Ministers, may prove dangerous to the government in the coming time.

Still more shocking is the statement made by Dr. Govind Singh, a senior Minister holding the charge of crucial General Administration Department. Dr. Singh has warned that new President of the state Congress should not be imposed from above. Talking to media Dr. Singh said that new president should be such who is by and large acceptable to the partymen. He criticised the manner in which efforts are being made to appoint a particular person as the President.

It may be mentioned that Kamal Nath is still holding the post of state Congress President. According to party norms, one person cannot hold the charge of two posts. In view of this Nath will be replaced soon. Govind Singh came out with his views in the wake of reports that AICC Madhya Pradesh in-charge Deepak Babaria is trying to elicit opinion of partymen about the likely choice for the party’s chief. Dr. Govind Singh is regarded as Digvijaya Singh’s close associate.

Chief Minister is also feeling uncomfortable. After the arrest of his nephew Ratul Puri, Kamal Nath has to come out with a statement that he has nothing to do with his business. It may be mentioned that the Enforcement Directorate arrested Delhi based businessman for an alleged bank fraud when he appeared before the anti-money laundering agency in connection with Agusta-Westland bribery case.

Puri was replying to a long questionnaire regarding his alleged role in laundering ‘bribe money’ in UPA’s purchase of Agusta-Westland helicopters for the VVIP squadron when ED officials served summons on him in connection with what they described as a Rs. 6,000 crore bank scam and detained him. As it happened the Delhi HC rejected Puri’s bail application on Tuesday leaving the ED free to detain him.

Kamal Nath said that he has no connection with the business of his nephew. “I have no connection with Ratul Puri’s business activities. I am neither a share holder nor director and never had any such connection. To me, it appears to be a purely mala fide action”.

Attacking the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Nath said “Every institution is being misused politically. This is what is sad. I have full faith that the court will give the right verdict. Nath further said “And everything else is in the public domain. Sometime it is Chidambaram, sometimes Ahmed Patel, sometimes it is Shiv Sena’s leaders and at other times they are after industrialists. To which level is this country being dragged? But I don’t get disturbed by such cases”.

The state BJP reacted strongly to Nath’s allegation of misuse of central agencies. “This is shameful. The Congress government is misusing agencies against BJP leaders (in the state) and is now blaming others. CM Nath must see what charges they (Congress leaders and Ratul Puri) are facing” said Leader of opposition (LoP) Gopal Bhargava.

BJP state spokesperson Rajneesh Agarwal said “ED’s action against Puri was based solely on its investigation. “It is clear that people involved in plundering of country’s money will not be allowed to go scot free, irrespective of whom they are linked to” said Agarwal.
(IPA Service)