Amid Rajasthan Faceoff, Congress Leaders Spar Over Kamal Nath As CM Face In MP Election

Two senior Congress leaders contended over the choice of Madhya Pradesh unit president Kamal Nath as the party's chief ministerial face for the state Assembly polls.

Amid the tussle between CM Ashok Gehlot and Congress leader Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, two senior party leaders contended over the choice of Madhya Pradesh unit president Kamal Nath as the party's chief ministerial face for the state Assembly polls likely to be held at the end of the year. The verbal spat between Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Govind Singh and Nath loyalist MLA Sajjan Singh Verma took place after a meeting on MP poll preparations was held in Delhi on May 29, which was attended by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.

After attending the meeting, Singh had said, "The Congress is a democratic party. It is not the Congress tradition to announce the CM face in advance. The public will elect the MLAs, who will further choose the CM," as quoted by PTI.

Hitting back, Verma said, "Govind Singh ji sometimes forgets whether MLAs have elected him as the leader of the opposition? No, he was not elected by MLAs. He was senior so we also agreed on his appointment as leader of opposition," as quoted by PTI. Verma said the people of MP and party leaders want Nath as the state's CM, adding that Singh should behave the way in which he expects others to do with him.

"All 22 present (in Rahul Gandhi's meeting) had accepted Kamal Nath as their leader. This is on record. All leaders accepted that the 2023 polls will be fought under Kamal Nath's leadership,” Verma asserted," as quoted by PTI. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Singh issued a video statement claiming his comment had been wrongly interpreted by the media.

"It is true all the senior leaders have decided to contest Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls under the leadership of Kamal Nath… I have said several times he is our party's leader,” he said. Singh, however, maintained the chief minister is selected after the elections and in the legislature party.

Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh also said party leaders want the polls to be fought under Nath's leadership. In Rajasthan, Pilot has been vocal about the inaction by the Ashok Gehlot-led state government regarding the alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in the state.