‘Lie machine’, ‘Foundation minister’: Congress’ Kamal Nath’s dig at Madhya Pradesh CM

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 15 (ANI): Congress Madhya Pradesh party chief Kamal Nath on Monday took a dig at chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan terming him as a “Shilanyas mantri” (foundation minister), a “lie machine” and an “announcement machine.”

Addressing a press conference here, the Congress leader said “Chief Minister Shivraj Singh has become the machine of lies and announcements these days. Along with being CM, he is a Shilanayas Mantri (Foundation Stone Minister). Wherever he goes, he lays the foundation stone and carries a coconut in his pocket,” Nath said.

Talking about the Karnataka assembly elections results, Nath said, “In Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried hard to misuse the name of Lord Hanuman. They also misused money. Despite all these, they could not win even 50 per cent of the total seats that the Congress won (135 seats). BJP was reduced to 66 seats.”

Nath, however, refrained from speculating on who the next chief minister of Karnataka would be.

“Both senior Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivkumar are very close to me. I am talking to both of them continuously. I have also talked to Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge. Today, is also the birthday of DK Shivkumar and I don’t want to say anything about who will be the Chief Minister of Karnataka,” Nath said.

Speaking about the Congress manifesto for the upcoming Assembly polls in the State, Kamal Nath said, “All announcements related to farmer loan waiver will be included in our manifesto. Our Nari Samman Yojana is getting very good response across the State.”

“If radical organisations have infiltrated Madhya Pradesh, then it should be the responsibility of the police administration to free the state from such organisations,” the Congress leader added.

He added, “We will follow any decision that the Supreme Court takes. The Supreme Court has said that whoever, individual or organisation, practices hate or contention politics should be strictly investigated. Supreme Court has said this not once but multiple times. We are not targetting anyone, we will target what the Supreme Court has said. Why should anyone feel guilty that they would be targetted? That would just mean they are practising such politics.”

Ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls the Congress in its manifesto said it will take “decisive action” as per law, including banning organisations like the Bajrang Dal.

Meanwhile, asked about the ‘The Kerala Story’ row, the former chief minister said, “I haven’t watched the Kerala story and don’t know much about it. But the common voter has become very sensible now, they are understanding that BJP is bringing religious issues to the political stage and the BJP is not giving the reports of its tenure.”