Fearing a political onslaught from the BJP, the opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh has denied permission to the proposed state-wide yatra of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Instead, he will be allowed to take a shortened version of the yatra. The BJP has been very critical of Digvijaya-ruled Congress regime between 1993 to 2003 and has fought past elections raking up the issue.
For the past few months, Digvijaya Singh have been saying that he will embark on a state-wide yatra from May 15 to unite the leaders of the Congress party who are led by various factions. Despite his declaration, he could not start his yatra as the new PCC chief and Congress high-command did not permit the yatra. Instead, sources say, he may be permitted for a limited yatra which would touch only district headquarters.
The announcement of the yatra across all the assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh was made during Digvijaya's Narmada Yatra. Digvijaya undertook the six-month-long, foot-march across river Narmada, last year. However, after much deliberations the party has allowed Singh to limit his visit to only district headquarters where he will meet party leaders and try to unite them.
According to sources, the Congress party fears that Digvijaya's campaigning might have a negative impact in the assembly elections, as the BJP always portray him as a leader who was least bothered about the development of Madhya Pradesh. BJP leader Uma Bharti even coined the term ‘bantadhaar’ (one who destroyed the state) for Digvijaya Singh while she challenged him in 2003 and defeated him. The term had stuck to Digvijaya Singh and people of the state still dislike him for his regime when poor electricity and bad roads became normal in Madhya Pradesh.
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Sources claim that Digvijaya Singh would not be allowed to conduct public meetings and address press conferences during his limited yatra. The proposed yatra will be attended by other senior leaders also, so that the BJP does not make an issue against the Congress.
However, Congress spokesperson Yogendra Singh said, “All these statements in media that Digvijaya Singh has been stopped from conducting the yatra are baseless. He will go across the state to meet senior, junior or unhappy Congress workers to persuade them to fight unitedly against the BJP. Whether this will be in the form of a yatra or not, this cannot be said at this juncture.”