Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath, under fire over a comment about a woman minister in the state, on Monday evening alleged in a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that the BJP was misleading people.
Nath is facing flak from the ruling party for referring to minister Imarti Devi as "item" during a campaign speech for Assembly by-election.
Earlier in the day, Chouhan and other BJP leaders observed a two-hour silent fast in protest against Nath. Chouhan also wrote a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, asking her to take action against Nath for his comment about a Dalit woman leader.
CM also said that if Sonia Gandhi feels that Kamal Nath's remarks are wrong, then she should take appropriate action and if she does not take any action, then it proves that Congress and Sonia Gandhi are in support of his statement.
Nath, in his own missive to Chouhan, said, "I didn't make any disgraceful remarks but you served lies...The word I said has a lot of meanings. Your party is serving lies and misleading by interpreting the word arbitrarily."
Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that as he did not remember the name of the candidate, he said something which was not offensive and it is natural to happen as everyone is not good at remembering names.
Also read: CM Chouhan launches fresh attack on Kamal Nath over 'item' remark
He said that the item which is a word also comes in the Lok Sabha and is also used in the assembly.
If they go to a program, then it is also written referring to the item number, which person will wear the garland in item one, which person will wear the garland in item 2. So will we call it disrespectful, but BJP wants to make it an issue so that public attention can be diverted from the core issues of the state and the public can be misled because BJP knows that it will lose the elections badly.
In the last seven months under the BJP rule, Madhya Pradesh was once again reaching the top position in terms of crime against women but Chouhan did not act, he alleged.
"Under your 16-year-long government, the state remained on top in rape cases, crime against women but you remained silent," the Congress leader alleged.
"If you had been moved over the honour of women and Dalits, you would have observed silence and fast for Hathras incident, the incident involving Swami Chinmayanand, one involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar and the incident with women detainees in Rewa Jail, but by mentioning the woman's caste in the letter (to Sonia Gandhi) you clearly demonstrated the mindset of your immoral politics," Nath said.
Nath also alleged that a Union minister and a cabinet colleague of Chouhan have recently used derogatory terms for women.
"You should have written a letter to your party president informing about the remarks of the union minister and cabinet colleague by apologizing to the women of the state and observing silent fast," the Congress leader said.
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Addressing a poll rally on Sunday in Gwalior's Dabra town where the BJP has fielded minister Imarti Devi, Nath said the Congress candidate was a "simple person" unlike the opponent who was an "item".
With inputs from PTI
