Bhopal: On the eve of biennial election to the Rajya Sabha, war of nerves has started between Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. In an unprecedented move, an FIR has been filed against Digvijaya Singh. FIR has been filed by BJP leader and former Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta. In retaliation against the BJP move, Digvijaya Singh has also announced his intention to file an FIR against Chief Minister Chouhan.
It may be mentioned here that voting for Rajya Sabha is now scheduled for June 19. Originally election was to be held on March 26 but it was postponed because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In all three members are to be elected. For three seats there are four candidates – two each from BJP and Congress. The BJP candidates are Jyotiraditya Scindia and Professor Solanki. Congress candidates are Digvijaya Singh and Pool Singh Barraiya. Digvijaya Singh is seeking a second term. It may be recalled that after the Congress defeat in 2003, Singh announced his resolve not to contest any election for the next ten years. After the lapse of ten years, he entered Rajya Sabha in 2013, and now he is seeking a second term. The Congress has challenged the candidature of both Scindia and Solanki. The returning officer rejected their objections. The Congress now proposes to file petition against them after their election.
The crime branch on Monday registered a case of defamation, forgery and public mischief against Digvijaya Singh after he allegedly posted an edited video of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on his social media accounts on Sunday.
The video clip allegedly showed the Chief Minister endorsing liquor consumption in the state. It was removed from Digvijaya’s social media accounts later, but by then it had been re-tweeted by 11 others, who have also been booked by Police.
In his complaint Gupta said that the original video was Chouhan’s reaction to changes in the excise policy made by the erstwhile Kamal Nath government. It was edited to make it look like Chouhan was advocating alcohol consumption, he said submitting the edited video clip and screenshots as evidence.
Digvijaya says he is being targeted for seeking justice for Tribals who have been “defrauded”. “Tribals have been swindled in Chief Minister Chouhan’s constituency by a chit fund company and middle men belonging to BJP. Chouhan’s government did not even register an FIR” Digvijaya told reporters. “I raised my voice on behalf of the victims and said I would protest outside the door of the Chief Minister’s residence. This is why the BJP is frustrated and registered an FIR against me,” the veteran Congress leader said.
Digvijaya said he doesn’t object to the case registered against him. “But there must be an investigation into who edited the video. The way Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s videos are edited, who edits them? Will a probe be ordered into that too”? He asked. Digvijaya Singh told reporters that he would file report against Chouhan at the same Police Station in which the FIR has been filed against him. He alleged that nobody can beat BJP in registering false cases and also spreading fake news.
Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath criticised the police action against Digvijay, tweeting: “I strongly condemn the case registered against former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. The BJP government is continuously displaying its malicious intentions with oppressive actions against Congress leaders in the state.”
Accusing BJP of registering a false complaint against Digvijaya, Nath said: “Governments go out of power and return, but BJP is giving birth to a wrong tradition. People associated with BJP are constantly playing dirty politics against Congress leaders and maligning their image.
“If a video has been edited then action should be initiated against the person who did it. The case against Digvijaya Singh is beyond comprehension,” Nath added.
Additional SP Nischal Jharia told reporters that cases have been registered against Digvijay and 11 others, including Congress social media coordinator Avinash Kadbe under IPC 500 (defamation), 501 (printing defamatory material) 505 (2) (public mischief) and 465 (forgery).
Meanwhile, in a surprise move, a petition has been filed in the High Court demanding postponement of June 19 biennial elections. The petitioner Dr Aman Sharma has pointed out that Rajya Election in Madhya Pradesh should be postponed and held after 24 vacant Vidhan Sabha seats are filled in the by-election. Electing Rajya Sabha members in the absence of 24 legislators will deprive the people of Madhya Pradesh from equal representation.
