Bhopal: Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath addressed more than 5,000 party workers virtually in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha elections Sunday and said he would keep campaigning wherever needed, as he had done before.
This came amid intense speculation about him quitting the party to join the BJP.
A couple of hours after Kamal Nath’s address to the Congress workers, Union Home Minister Amit Shah exhorted BJP workers to bring in leaders from the Congress. “Hamara digestion system bahut accha hai. Sab digest ho jaate hai. (Our digestion system is very good. We can digest everything),” Shah told them during a meeting in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
In his address, Nath also stressed the importance of local workers’ role in making Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra a success and urged them to boost their morale.
The state Congress released a video of Nath’s speech at a meeting convened by state party president Jitu Patwari to review readiness for the elections on the social media platform ‘X’.
पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री कमलनाथ जी ने जूम के माध्यम से मध्यप्रदेश कांग्रेस कमेटी के नेताओं एवं कार्यकर्ताओं को संबोधित किया।@OfficeOfKNath pic.twitter.com/KQ02pERjac
— MP Congress (@INCMP) February 25, 2024
During his address, Nath emphasised that the most important task was to ensure Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Naya Yatra was better than the previous one. He said that the yatra is all set to enter the state and will create an atmosphere that will be crucial for the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
Referring to the screening committee, Nath urged that all names of candidates should be declared as soon as they are decided, which would give the candidates time to form their teams and begin campaigning for polls.
Nath also urged workers to not get demotivated by the “faulty” working of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which is not just affecting MP, but all states and across all parties.
The senior Congress leader urged the workers to leave the fight of the EVMs to Digvijaya Singh and instead ensure they are present and connected for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to make it a success.
Along with Nath’s video, the party also released videos of Digvijay Singh, Vivek Tankha, Arun Yadav and Leader of Opposition Umang Singar.
Digvijay Singh told the workers that the tallest Congress leader was the one who could win his booth, while Vivek Tankha referring to Jitu Patwari said, “Change across the world has been brought about by the youth and it is now on Jitu bhai‘s shoulder… We all know that mandir (temple) and masjid (mosque) cannot fill stomachs and cannot get jobs.”
Also Read: Amid switchover buzz, Kamal Nath’s son says will walk with Rahul when yatra passes through MP
Shah addresses BJP workers
Amit Shah, during a meeting with BJP workers Sunday, tasked them to go all out to ensure booths across the region were “Congress mukt” (free of Congress).
He also told workers to not worry about new entrants from other parties getting prominent places in the BJP.
Shah is said to have asked party leaders, who have been associated with it for more than 15 years, to raise their hands and then asked them what the party had done for them.
“As a significant number of people raised their hands, Shah asked them what the party had done for them.. and if nothing has been done for them, then the new joinees will also not be given much,” a BJP leader present at the meeting told ThePrint.
Shah also told the workers to analyse the BJP’s vote share in the Gwalior-Chambal region and see if it gave them an advantage in the Lok Sabha elections. The region has four Lok Sabha seats — Gwalior, Bhind, Morena and Guna.
The home minister was on a day-long tour of the state, and after the Gwalior-Chambal meeting, he held a public meeting in Khajuraho, the constituency of state BJP president V.D. Sharma, and then addressed intellectuals in Bhopal.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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