Rahul only PM candidate of Congress Party: Divijay

Patna: Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Wednesday said AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi is the only Congress candidate to be projected as PM candidate for the next Lok Sabha elections. Talking to mediapersons at the residence of Animal resources minister Awadesh Kumar Singh, Digvijay said Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal were also qualified to be the PM. About UP assembly elections, he said he favoured an alliance of non-BJP parties for consolidation of secular votes. Congress would contest all the seats.

Digvijay met RJD president Lalu Prasad and discussed contemporary political situation in the state and claimed he was given an impression that the government was running well in Bihar. Revenue and land reforms minister Madan Mohan Jha also met Digvijay, who said since the PCC president Ashok Chaudhury was a cabinet minister too, a new president has to be appointed logically. Chaudhury was absent from meetings of Digvijay Singh.

The AICC general secretary said  the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnawis has sent legal notice to him demanding an apology from him for his remarks against Maharashra CM and his wife. Disclosing this, Digvijay  said he had alleged as chairman of one of the public sector undertakings in Maharshtra, Fadnawis had issued orders directing the undertaking to invest in a private bank where his wife was employed. This would facilitate her career advancement, he added. The former CM of Madhya Pradesh said it was a classic case of conflict of interests.”I will not reply to the notice nor tender an apology. Let Fadnawis go to the court against me,I will reply there,”he said.

Digvijay Singh regretted Fadnawis became a victim of blackmailing by Raj Thackeray who allowed screening of a film having a Pakistani stars allegedly on payment of Rs five crore to the army welfare fund. Raj and Fadnawis should know, the Pakistani film stars were given visa by the Governnent of India.

For the first time, Digvijay Singh favoured abolition of triple talaq among the Muslims by appealing to the Muslim intellectuals, clergy and Muslim women in particular to have rethinking on their views on triple talaq. He said Muslim women and clergy should know that 22 Muslim countries have abolished triple talaq. He said BJP led NDA government was trying to make issue of triple talaq a political one.It should be left to the Muslims to decide. They are betetr judge of the subject.

Digvijay Singh was here to attend a  judicial magistrate court which had issued warrant seeking his presence in a four- year- old case filed by a follower of Baba Ramdev. Digvijay was granted bail on submission of two sureties before the court. He said the judge asked, “Did you describe Baba Ramdev, a Thug, I replied in positive and said I will prove my allegations.” He said the Uttarakhand government headed by Congress should probe into the misuse of land allotted to him for educational purposes. Baba was misusing it for running his Rs 10,000 crore business empire, he alleged .