BHOPAL: Congress MP and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh announced on Tuesday that he will be vacating his Rajya Sabha seat and not seeking a third term in the upper house of the Parliament.
He made this announcement in less than three months before his Rajya Sabha term ends. His second term expires on April 9, 2026
Having lost two consecutive Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and 2024 from MP’s Bhopal and Rajgarh seats respectively, Singh has been sent by the Congress to the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms 2014-2020 and 2020-2026.
The development came hours after the state Congress’s scheduled caste cell’s chief Pradip Ahirwar, wrote a letter to Singh, requesting that a leader from the scheduled caste (SC) be sent by the Congress, to the Rajya Sabha this time from MP, on the expiry of Singh’s RS term.
When asked by journalists in Bhopal about Ahirwar’s letter to him, the septuagenarian politician said “It’s not in my hands (who would be sent to the Rajya Sabha). All I can say now is that I will be vacating my seat (Rajya Sabha).”
Singh’s significant political statement, came just a day after he had made another politically crucial statement, saying, “If the Congress forms the next government in the state, I would be happy to see someone from the scheduled caste/scheduled tribe heading it as the CM.”
With Singh announcing not to seek third Rajya Sabha term, the list of probables for the seat, has become wide open, including the possibility of former CM and ex-union minister Kamal Nath, former union minister Arun Yadav and former MP minister, current state Congress chief Jitu Patwari, former Lok Sabha member Meenakshi Natrajan and CWC member and ex-MP minister Kamleshwar Patel.
But, with Singh now floating the idea of sending someone from the scheduled caste category (which constitutes 16% of the state’s voters), the Congress politics in the BJP-ruled state, is bound to witness interesting developments.
Singh, who always remains relevant in national politics, due to his controversial remarks and social media posts, was recently in news for his appreciation of the organizational strength of the RSS.
There are also speculations in Congress circles that owing to his recent praise about the RSS’s organizational strength, the grand old party may not be keen to give him another term in the Parliament’s upper house, owing to which he has safely announced vacating the seat and not going for a third term.
Meanwhile, sources close to Singh told TNIE that by staying away from national politics and Parliament, Singh wants to stay put in MP and rebuild the state Congress’s organization on the grassroots for the 2028 assembly elections.
He is currently heading the Dalit and Tribal agenda, serving as the fulcrum of the two-day Bhopal-2 Declaration meeting held in Bhopal on Monday and Tuesday.
The conclave was attended by prominent SC and ST leaders of the Congress, along with representatives of various Dalit and tribal organisations.