Former MP CM Arjun Singh's wife accuses sons of harassment

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh. Photo: AFP (File)

BHOPAL: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister late Arjun Singh's wife Saroj Kumari on Tuesday moved a court here, alleging that her sons Abhimanyu Singh and Ajay Singh were harassing her and had forced her out of her house. A Congress leader, Ajay Singh is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly. Kumari, 83, filed the complaint under the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act in the court of judicial magistrate Gaurav Pragyan. To file the complaint, she personally visited the court along with her daughter Veena Singh and NRI industrialist Sam Varma. The magistrate ordered issuance of notices to the respondents, and listed the matter for hearing on July 19. "My sons Abhimanyu Singh and LoP Ajay Singh indulged in domestic violence against me and forced me out of my own house. They have also refused to take care of my maintenance which compelled me to approach the court," the complaint said. It also named Suniti Singh, Ajay Singh's wife. Kumari's lawyer Dipesh Joshi said his client had also requested the court to grant her ex-parte relief (relief before hearing the respondents) so that she can return to her house in Bhopal. In a media statement too, Saroj Kumari reiterated her allegations. Having been forced out of her own house, she has to live live in an apartment in Greater Noida, she said. Her husband served the Congress his entire life and ensuring protection of women and assisting helpless persons was a matter of principles for him, she said. "But my son Ajay Singh has set aside these principles of the Congress and forced me out of my own house. At this age I have to leave my own home to live in different places. It is not only against the principles of Congress party but also defines the character of the man, who is all-powerful and the leader of opposition," she said. "I have urged the court to help me so that I can live in my own house and also requested it to issue orders for eviction of Ajay Singh from that house," the statement read. When contacted, Ajay Singh told PTI that he would reply to any notice pertaining to the complaint when he receives it. Speaking to reporters later, Ajay Singh termed the complaint as "BJP's conspiracy". Whenever he gave notice for no-confidence motion against the BJP government, such things happened, he said. The last time he had moved the motion, a Congress MLA defected to the BJP at the last moment, he said. Singh recently submitted a notice to the Assembly secretariat for a no-confidence motion in the coming monsoon session.