New Delhi:
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh is no stranger to controversy. From his comments on Hemant Karkare, the Mumbai top cop slain in the 26/11 terror attack, to his latest jibe at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mr Singh seems to always find a way to make his party squirm.
Over the weekend in Ujjain, Mr Singh said that he does not rule out the possibility of the BJP's parent body, the RSS being involved in last week's serial blasts in Mumbai. Not only that, he allegedly slapped a BJP youth activist when heckled.
The BJP today described Mr Singh's remarks as "condemnable" and demanded a formal apology from the Congress. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Someone who has been the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for ten years, who is a Congress General Secretary, and who is a proponent of Rahul Gandhi's youth brigade, is slapping youth activists." Mr Prasad also accused Mr Singh of "communalising the war against terror."
But a combative Digvijaya Singh hit back at the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh saying, "If the BJP government in the state cannot provide me security, then they can withdraw my security. But then I will have to make my own arrangements for security."
Congress seems to have washed its hands off Mr Singh's remarks about the RSS saying that "unnecessary speculation" does not help when an investigation is going on. "It would be better if you put this question to him," was the repeated refrain of party spokesperson Manish Tewari to questions on whether the party endorsed Mr Singh's recent remarks.
(Watch: Has Digvijaya become a Congress embarrassment?)Meanwhile, Jayant Aggarwal is still smarting from his encounter with Mr Singh. "He got down from his vehicle, walked towards us and then he slapped me", claims Mr Aggarwal, who lives in Ujjain. Mr Aggarwal was among the BJP activists who heckled Digvijaya Singh when the Congress leader visited Ujjain over the weekend.
(Read: Digvijaya slapped me, claims BJP worker) In June, Mr Singh was seen kicking a man who tried to throw a shoe at Janardhan Dwivedi during a Congress briefing in Delhi. Mr Dwivedi, the Congress spokesperson, had been talking to reporters about the lathicharge at Baba Ramdev's controversial yoga camp. The police tear-gassed a crowd of nearly 65,000 supporters after Baba Ramdev refused to end a hunger strike against the government. The yoga icon wanted the government to follow his plan of action for recovering black money from foreign bank accounts. Mr Dwivedi had said at the press conference that Baba Ramdev seemed to be a front for the RSS, when a man posing as a journalist tried to throw his slipper at him. Congress workers grabbed the man. Mr Singh who was seen kicking him said that he appeared to be a member of the RSS.
(Watch: Is Digvijaya Singh a loose cannon or guided missile?)BJP workers attacked Digvijaya car with stones, claim Madhya Pradesh Congress leadersThe Opposition Congress today created a ruckus in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly demanding a discussion over a reported 'attack' on party general secretary Digvijaya Singh allegedly by saffron activists.
The Speaker first adjourned the House for 15 minutes and later for half-an-hour following the din. As the assembly gathered for the Question Hour after paying tributes to former BJP minister Sheetla Sahai, Congress members, including Arif Aqeel, Priyavrat Singh, Govind Singh Rajput and Yadvendra Singh, raised the issue of the alleged attack on Singh by the RSS/BJP and Bajrang Dal workers at Ujjain and Shajapur, demanding a discussion.
As the Chair was not responding to their pleas, they started protesting on the issue vociferously and in the din nothing could be heard following which Speaker Ishwar Das Rohani adjourned the house for 15 minutes. When the house reassembled, Congress members raised the issue again and rushed to the well raising slogans against the BJP government and created a ruckus following which the Speaker had to adjourn the house for 30 minutes.
Congress members later came out of the house raising slogans against the BJP and RSS.
Leader of the Opposition, Ajay Singh, later told reporters that Digvijaya Singh's motorcade at Ujjain and Shajapur was attacked by BJP and Sangh workers. "They not only attacked Singh's car with sticks but also pelted stones at him at both the places. If this can happen with a former chief minister then one can imagine what will happen with a common man in the state", Mr Ajay Singh said.
He also said that the Congress would not allow regular proceedings in the House unless an adjournment motion moved by the party is accepted.