BHOPAL: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and LOP Kamal Nath on Saturday challenged chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to run a race with him, following repeated statements by BJP that he is unwell and recuperating in Delhi.
Nath returned to Bhopal after a fortnight on Saturday morning, and said: “There has been a lot of discussion about my health. Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Kamal Nath is unwell, he has aged. Shivraj ji, I challenge you to come and run a race with me.” In response, BJP state chief V D Sharma said there wasn’t any race left for Nath in Madhya Pradesh.
Nath said he had gone for a “post-Covid check-up” because he had pneumonia. “It can happen to anyone,” he said. He had left Bhopal on September 17 after conducting an organizational meeting, and returned on Saturday. From the airport, he drove directly to Minto Hall, where he paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
BJP reacts to Nath’s dare, says no race left for Cong veteran in MP
I went through a complete checkup and everything is normal. There are two kinds of Covid, one minor and another that requires long treatment. I had got the long Covid. That is why I went for a check-up,” Kamal Nath said. “I was in New Delhi because I have a lot of responsibilities there. It was not as though I was unwell and taking rest,” he added.
In response to Nath’s challenge to Chouhan, state BJP chief V D Sharma said: “There is no race left for Kamal Nath ji in Madhya Pradesh.” “PCC chief Kamal Nath is like a family member. I pray to God for his health and hope that he gets healthier. So far as a race is concerned, Congress leaders Natwar Singh, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari and many others are presently running a campaign against the Gandhi family,” Sharma said.
“Nath should look into who is winning in that race and who is losing there. Thereafter, he can think of a race in Madhya Pradesh. We believe in healthy races, based on welfare schemes for the poor,” he added.
Nath, on the other hand, believes he is very much in the race in Madhya Pradesh. His focus is on the bypolls. “We need winnable candidates so we conducted a survey and discussed with all concerned persons. We will soon announce our candidates. The issue today is not the bypolls but how to save the tradition and culture of the nation, how to save the state,” the former CM said.
“Today, Madhya Pradesh holds first rank for all the wrong reasons. The recent NCRB report shows that the state tops in atrocities against tribals and farm suicides of farmers. The state also tops in corruption, the reason why no investment is coming to the state,” he said, adding that the youth of the state do not have a secure future in MP.
Nath said that his 15-month government provided people with 100 units of power at Rs 100. “Now, the same electricity bills are running into thousands of rupees. CM Chouhan is still speaking untruth and making false announcements. He just wants a dais, or a foundation stone so he can lay it anywhere. He made thousands of false announcements in the last 15 years and keeps misleading people with falsities,” the LOP said, adding that he is confident that the people of MP will support Congress to secure their future.
