Nath-Scindia fight comes out in open

Bhopal: Differences between Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and AICC general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday reached a flashpoint with former pooh-poohing the latter’s threat to hit the road against his government over unfulfilled manifesto promises.

A visibly upset Mr Nath reacted sharply to Mr Scindia’s threat, saying, “To utar jayen (let him hit the roads).”

He was talking to reporters in Delhi after attending Congress coordination committee meeting convened at his official residence.

Sources said Mr Scindia left the meeting in a huff following a reported tiff with Mr Nath over the issue of unfulfilled manifesto promises, leaving the latter fuming.

AICC general secretary in-charge of MP Deepak Babaria, who attended the meeting, tried to downplay the incident saying that Mr Scinda walked out of the meeting owing to his pressing engagements.

Earlier, Mr Scindia took potshots at the chief minister over alleged unfulfilled manifesto promises.

“I will not hesitate to hit the roads against the state government if it fails to fulfil the manifesto promises,” he had said while regretting non-fulfilment of key manifesto promises, including regularisation of ad hoc lecturers of government colleges in the state. Responding to Mr Scindia’s threat, Mr Nath said, “My government has been chosen for five years, not for five days.”

There have been differences between Mr Scindia and Mr Nath since the latter was chosen to become the Madhya Pradesh chief minister after Congress returned to power in the state in the 2018 assembly elections. Mr Scindia’s bid to become the president of the MP unit of Congress has also been foiled so far.