MP: Congress Picks Digvijay Loyalist as RS Candidate From MP, Puts at Rest Speculation on Nath’s Nomination to Upper House

Bhopal: Setting at rest all speculations on nomination of party veteran Kamal Nath to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, Congress on Wednesday picked Ashok Singh, a leader from Gwalior in MP known to be loyalist of former chief minister Digvijay Singh, as its candidate for the February 27 biennial polls to Rajya Sabha in the state.

The party’s RS candidate Mr Singh is known to be a bitter critic of Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia when the latter was in Congress.

The Congress had fielded Mr Singh in Gwalior Lok Sabha constituency in the last three polls to wrest the seat from BJP and breach the saffron bastion, but he could not win the seat for the party on the three occasions.

Amid speculation about Mr Nath lobbying for RS nomination with the party high command, another senior Congress leader Arun Yadav was also said to be in the race for party ticket to go to the Upper House from MP, sources said.

Interestingly, Mr Singh’s nomination for RS polls in MP comes a day after Mr Nath hosted a dinner for Congress MLAs in the state here on Tuesday night.

Besides the Congress legislators, senior party leader Digvijay Singh and state Congress president Jitu Patwari were also present at the dinner party.

Mr Patwari said that the ensuing RS poll was discussed at the dinner party.

Mr Nath had however called the dinner party a ‘routine affair’.

“I throw a dinner party for Congress MLAs during every assembly session”, he said.

Congress circle here was abuzz with talks of Mr Nath being chosen candidate for RS polls in MP by the party ever since he met party supremo Sonia Gandhi at Delhi on February eight.

Biennial polls for five RS seats in Madhya Pradesh are going to be held on February 27.

While ruling BJP is in a position to send four party candidates to RS, Congress is in a position to get one party nominee elected to the Upper House.