Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh assembly Umang Singhar of the Congress on Wednesday rejected speculations of joining the BJP and took potshots at Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia whose 2020 switch over led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government.
He alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was spreading rumours about defection of senior Congress leaders to divert voters' attention from core issues in the Lok Sabha elections. Singhar targeted Scindia, whose exit from the Congress led to the collapse of the 15-month-old Nath government in March 2020 and paved the way for the BJP's return to power in Madhya Pradesh. Scindia later joined the BJP and became a minister at the Centre.
"BJP leaders from Delhi to Bhopal have been contacting me (for switch over) for the last several years. Even when the Kamal Nath government was toppled, I was given all kinds of inducements. Even then I did not join the BJP because I am Umang Singhar and not Scindia," the senior Congress MLA remarked. Singhar was replying to queries from reporters in Indore about speculations of him joining the saffron party. The Congress legislator alleged the ruling BJP is putting pressure on opposition leaders by misusing central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department.
"If the Congress had done this kind of politics in the last 70 years, the BJP would not have been visible today," he maintained. The Leader of Opposition targeted six-time Congress MLA from Vijaypur (Sheopur district) Ramniwas Rawat, who joined the BJP on Tuesday.
Singhar claimed Rawat joined the ruling party out of greed for a ministerial post and sought to downplay his switch over. "It doesn't make a difference to the Congress if power-hungry people leave the party," he said. Asked about Congress candidate from Indore Lok Sabha seat Akshay Kanti Bam withdrawing his nomination and later joining the BJP, Singhar remarked that it turned out to be a case of an "unexploded firecracker". "Whether it is Surat (where Congress candidate's nomination was rejected) or Indore, the law and the Constitution were openly violated. The BJP is trying to change the Constitution,"
