Bhopal: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, a seasoned campaigner, continued to project his ‘Hindu’ image on Wednesday as he canvassed for votes in Bhopal by visiting religious shrines and seeking blessings from seers in the city.
Reaffirming his commitment to Hinduism, he asked why the RSS was hostile towards him. “I’m a Hindu and the RSS also projects itself as a cultural organisation which only bolsters the interest of Hindus. It intrigues me as RSS isn’t a political organization, but a cultural organization working for Hindus interests, why it is so opposed to me,” he said.
He also underlined his secular credentials while referring to Ganga –Jamuni culture of the country, which according to him ebbed in 1990, when attempts started to vitiate secular atmosphere. “The Ganga-Jamuni tehjib almost disappeared after the demolition of Babri masjid,” he said, adding Bhopal had saw its first riots in 1992.
Singh said Bhopal city had a special culture and tradition, and said when people were starting to leave during partition, it was the Nawab of Bhopal who convinced them to stay back. To drive home his point, the two-time CM said cow slaughter was banned in Bhopal since the Nawabi era.
He also mocked the delay in announcement of a BJP candidate for Bhopal, saying he was dubbed a weak candidate by the BJP and if that was the case, why the BJP wasn’t able to find an opponent for him till now. Bhopal has been a BJP citadel since 1989.
He yet again focused on Pulwama attack, flaying the Centre and claimed IG Kashmir had offered intelligence input well in advance but the attack wasn’t averted. “It was Congress who fought terrorism, they (BJP) only compromised against it.”
The BJP was quick to respond on his takes. “It was Digvijaya Singh who had sullied Hindu religion by coining phases like saffron and Hindu terrorism, it’s pleasing that now he finally realised that he too was a Hindu,” senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra said. It’s a success of our party and its leadership, he added.
After meeting Shankaracharya Swaroopananad Saraswati and Jain seer Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj at Jabalpur and Narsinghpur on Tuesday, Singh paid a visit to the famed Gufa Mandir in Bhopal on Wednesday.
Singh’s son Jaivardhan, brother Laxman Singh and loyalists, including MLA Arif Aqueel, have already started campaigning for him even as the BJP still looks for a suitable candidate amid reports of former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan being the top contender for the seat.
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