Shivraj, Kamal Nath trade barbs over \'adharm\' Vs \'punishing sinners\'

Bhopal: The audio in which Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan purportedly was heard saying that the Kamal Nath government was pulled down at the behest of the Central leadership of BJP, on Thursday triggered a massive Twitter war between Mr Chouhan and his predecessor.

A tweet by Mr Chouhan in which he said “The annihilation of sinners is a holy act and our religion has sanctioned it” appeared to have ruffled the former chief minister and Congress veteran Kamal Nath to counter him in the social media, thus setting the tone for a showdown between them in Twitter.

“How can one be termed pious if one disregards and dishonors the people’s mandate, a (constitutional) sanctity”, Mr Nath tweeted apparently referring to fall of his 15-month-old government in three months ago following resignation of 22 former Congress MLAs from the assembly.

Mr Nath had earlier accused BJP of having masterminded to topple his government.

Mr Chouhan’s twitter post came in the wake of Opposition Congress on Thursday mounting attack on the BJP leadership citing the alleged expose in the audio clip.

Without taking anyone’s name, Mr Nath maintained, “Some people project themselves as very pious. But, in reality, they are the most irreligious and sinners” and added, “Religion never teaches one to betray others or conspire against others…”

State BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma on Thursday joined the issue saying that the Congress which had a history of pulling down non-Congress governments in the states in the past was itself the reason behind the collapse of Kamal Nath government.

He reminded Mr Nath of his earlier purported statement in which he had blamed Congress veteran Digvijay Singh for giving him the wrong impression that Jyotiraditya Scindia had commanded no significant support in Congress Legislature Party (CLP) then and hence he had posed no danger to his government.

“It is Digvijay Singh who is to blame for the fall of Kamal Nath government”, Mr Sharma claimed.

Mr Scindia who had switched over to BJP from Congress recently, had raised a banner of revolt against Mr Nath then, prompting 22 former Congress MLAs, his loyalists, to resign from the assembly, forcing Mr Nath to step down from office.

“Mr Scindia had incurred Mr Nath’s anger for pointing out lapses in his government, leading him to quit Congress”, Mr Sharma said.