Congress scrambles as MP CM Kamal Nath, senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia spar in open

The Congress on Saturday scrambled to rein in the warring factions in Madhya Pradesh as a bitter war of words broke out between Chief Minister Kamal Nath and senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Nath on Saturday dared Scindia, who finds himself on the sidelines in party affairs in Madhya Pradesh, to hit the streets to force the party-led government to waive farm loans as promised in the manifesto in the 2018 assembly polls.

Last week, addressing a public meeting in Tikamgarh, Scindia had threatened to take to the streets against the party's government on the issues of farmers and guest teachers in the state.

AICC General Secretary Deepak Babaria on Saturday summoned a meeting of the Coordination Committee to rein in the Scindia and Nath. Besides the warring leaders, the meeting was attended by Digvijaya Singh, Minister Jitu Patwari, Meenakshi Natarajan.

“Let him do it,” was the terse reply of Nath to questions on Scindia's threats to hit the streets if the promises made in the party's election manifesto were not fulfilled.

Nath also held separate meetings with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and apprised them of the political situation in the state. The chief minister also requested Sonia to hold the upcoming AICC Plenary in Madhya Pradesh.

During the meeting of the coordination committee, Nath is learnt to have apprised the leadership of the delicate state of the exchequer and assured that the promises made in the manifesto would be implemented over the next five years.

Scindia has been upset since he was overlooked for the post of the chief minister after the assembly elections in December 2018. Nath had joined hands with Digvijaya Singh to edge Scindia out of the coveted post.

The Gwalior royal has been out in the cold since his loss in the Lok Sabha elections from the family stronghold of Guna parliamentary seat. He had quit as the AICC General Secretary and was learnt to be in the reckoning for a Rajya Sabha seat or the President of the state unit of the party.