A new controversy has stirred after senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday lauded the organisational power of RSS-BJP as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture, saying how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders. The statement of Singh came ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting that decided on its agitational plan against the scrapping of MGNREGA from January 5.
It is learnt that Singh, who has also held the position of Madhya Pradesh chief minister, had raised the issue of strengthening the Congress organisation at the grassroots level, asserting it was much required in the fight against the ruling BJP government and to oust it from power but, however, was stopped by some other senior leaders during the meeting from raising matters other than MGNREGA on which the CWC was convened.
It is further understood that the senior Congress leader continued raising the issue of strengthening the organisation, pressing for decentralisation. Besides others, he was also stopped by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, as he wanted to hear out the other leaders at the meeting too and take their suggestions and views.
Singh, however, later backtracked, saying he only talked about the organisation and its strength and not the BJP or the RSS, as he was staunchly against the two.
What is the picture and caption the Congress leader shared —
"Quora site. It is very impressive. In what way did the grassroots 'swayamsevak' of RSS and the worker of Jan Sangh @BJP4India sat on the floor at the feet of leaders and become the Chief Minister of the state and the Prime Minister of the country? This is the power of the organisation. Jai Siya Ram," Singh said in a post in Hindi on X.
Congress leaders did not take any questions from the media at the press briefing after the CWC.
"In fact, I praised the party organisation. You people have misunderstood things. I am a staunch opponent of the BJP and the RSS," Singh clarified on his post after the meeting.
"You have misunderstood. I have only praised the organisation. I have and will always be opposed to the RSS and the prime minister's policies. Whatever I had to say, I have stated in the CWC. We have to strengthen the organisation. Praising the organisation is not bad. In this vast country, if you see my tenure as chief minister and party president, I have functioned with decentralisation," Singh added.
Singh, a former two-time chief minister, is currently a Rajya Sabha member whose tenure is set to end on June 21 next year.
Open dissent, says BJP on remarks —
Meanwhile, responding to Singh’s remarks, the BJP on Saturday alleged that Congress leader Digvijay’s praise for the organisational power of the BJP and the RSS was an "open dissent" against Rahul Gandhi's leadership in the party. The statement was made by BJP’s national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi.
"It's because our Narendra Modi is 'guddri ke lal' (diamond in the rough) and their leader is 'Jawahar ke lal' (great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru). Since our Narendra Modi has risen to top from bottom, he is taking the party (BJP) also to the top from bottom," Trivedi told the media.
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