BHOPAL: Who’s the real boss of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, present Chief Minister Kamal Nath or former CM Digvijaya Singh? One of the 28 cabinet ministers of the Kamal Nath-led government seems to have the answer to the question.
The state’s forest minister Umang Singhar has said that it’s former CM Digvijaya Singh who is actually running the state government from behind the curtains. “All I can say about honourable Digvijaya Singh is that he’s running the government from behind the curtains. Everyone, including the people of Madhya Pradesh as well as Congress workers know this. When he’s actually running the government, there is no need for him to write letters to ministers for getting various works done,” said Singhar.
Singhar, the 45-year-old tribal strongman who represents the Gandhwani assembly seat of Dhar district, is the nephew of former deputy CM Late Jamuna Devi.
Importantly, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had written recently to Madhya Pradesh ministers asking them about action taken on his letters recommending transfers and other works.
In his letter, Singh had urged ministers to give him an appointment by August 31 so that he can know what action has been taken on his recommendations.
"I had forwarded the applications related to various subjects, including the transfer between January and August 15, 2019, for necessary action. I had also requested you by writing separate letters to inform me about the action taken on my letters and if action was not possible, in any of these cases. To know about the action taken on the above letters sent by me, I want to meet you before August 31, 2019," Singh's letter read.
The opposition BJP too had hit out over the issue, saying Singh's letter shows that all is not well with the Kamal Nath government in the state.
Hitting out, state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said, "The language of the letter shows that he wanted the ministers to be accountable to him and not the leaders sitting in the government. The officials are also confused about who is the actual chief minister? This shows ministers are being asked by a party leader to be accountable to him."
Agrawal alleged Singh wanted to send the message that he was the "real boss" in the MP government, though the Congress refuted it.
State Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi, however, said, "BJP should not feel pained about this. A leader writing to ministers and wanting to know about action taken is part of public life. He (Singh) is doing the same. There is nothing wrong in this."
Interestingly, during the Lok Sabha poll campaign, senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh was in shambles as more than one person was wielding the power of chief minister.