Digvijaya defends Kamal Nath, says no case against him in anti-Sikh riots

In a significant development, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday came out in defence of party colleague Kamal Nath, who is considered a front runner for chief ministership, on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots issue, rubbishing allegations against him.

Singh insisted that there is no FIR or case against Nath in the case and alleged that the BJP is running a campaign against him despite him not being an accused.

"The incident is 35 years old. There is no FIR against him, no charge sheet or a case against him; he is not an accused in the case," he told ANI about Nath.

The comments by Singh, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, in defence of Nath may be considered significant since the two leaders have always been seen as competitors within the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

"Whenever his (Nath's) name comes up, BJP people run such kind of campaign. Kamal Nath was a minister from '85 to '90 as well as between '91 and '96. He was also a minister from 2004 to 2014. At these times no one objected," Singh said.

"Most or as much as 100 per cent Sikhs of Chhindwara (Lok Sabha constituency of Nath) are his supporters and he has also done service at the local Gurudwara. No one has a problem with him," Singh said.

On being asked about the sloganeering allegedly by supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath, he said, "People are excited and we do not know which party they belong to. It needs to be seen how many of them are Congress members or which party they are from."

With both Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Kamal Nath and party's campaign committee in-charge Jyotiraditya Scindia being in the race for the top post in the state, the Congress is treading very thin ice as the appointment of either of the two may lead to internal rifts ahead of the crucial 2019 General elections.