JOIN USSenior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday sprung a surprise by admitting to a relationship with a young television anchor, drawing sharp retorts from political opponents.
The 67-year-old, two time Madhya Pradesh chief minister, announced his relationship with journalist Amrita Rai on Twitter, thus putting an end to the rumour mills on social media where intimate photographs of the duo were a rage for the past couple of days.
“I have no hesitation in accepting my relationship with Amrita Rai. She and her husband have already filed a mutual consent divorce case,” Singh posted on the micro-blogging site in the afternoon.
“Once that is decided we would formalise it. But I do condemn encroachment in our private life,” he said in a separate posting.
Soon after Singh’s tweets, Rai declared on the micro-blogging site that she would marry the Congress general secretary after divorcing her husband. “I have separated from my husband and we have filed mutual consent divorce papers. After which I have decided to marry Digvijay Singh,” she tweeted.
Singh is a widower. His wife Asha Singh passed away in February last year after a prolonged battle with cancer. He has four daughters and a son from his marriage.
The revelation by Singh in the middle of elections has surprised many within the Congress. Singh’s relationship with Rai had become an election issue in Madhya Pradesh with a video CD of the two visiting temples together being circulated in the state. The BJP attacked Singh, who had fired salvos at BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who acknowledged Jashodaben as his wife while filing papers from Vadodara.
“A new definition of morality has been given by the actions of senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh Sahab. Those who preach lessons of morality should first look within themselves to see if they are practising what they are preaching to others,” BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti tweeted, “As an ordinary citizen one has more freedom than someone who gets into politics.”