Congress's Digivijaya Singh played down differences with Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav
Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh has reacted over state Congress chief Kamal Nath's remark on Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav saying one should not say anything like that about anyone.
Digvijaya Singh made the remark while talking to the reporters about the seat distribution for the upcoming state assembly polls between SP and Congress.
"What Kamal Nath said (remark on Akhilesh Yadav), I don't know how he said it. But one should not say anything like that about anyone. Kamal Nath sent a team to me (for the discussion of tickets distribution to SP). In the meeting, it was discussed that the SP is asking for six seats. After discussion, I sent a report to Kamal Nath that we can leave four seats for them (SP)," Mr Singh said.
He further said that he also asked the Central Leadership in working committee meeting about the relationship with the INDIA Alliance in the state elections, then they left it up to the state leadership.
"I also asked the Central Leadership in the working committee meeting what relation we should have with the INDIA Alliance. Then they left it up to the state leadership in the state elections. INDIA Alliance will contest the Lok Sabha elections together but in the state elections, we have different issues," the Congress leader said.
Meanwhile, talking about the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Mr Singh said, "Akhilesh is a very honest person. He is educated, and he is handling the party and the family. I don't know where the discussion went wrong but Kamal Nath wanted to reach an agreement with complete honesty. Friendly fights happen in alliances."
Notably, a few days ago when Mr Nath was questioned by reporters in Chhindwara district about SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav's betrayal charge, he replied, "Are bhai chhodo Akhilesh Vakhilesh" (Forget about Akhilesh Yadav).
Akhilesh Yadav had alleged that some "Congress leaders are siding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)", adding that he would not have trusted the grand old party if he had known that "Congress would betray them".
He further said he was unaware of the fact that the INDIA bloc has been formed at the national level to defeat the BJP and the alliance partners are not fighting together at the state level.
"If I had known that the alliance is not on the state level then I would not have sent SP leaders to Digvijaya Singh...I would not have trusted them if I had known that people from Congress would betray us," he added.
Madhya Pradesh will undergo assembly polls on November 17 and the counting will take place on December 3. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)