Cong disciplinary panel to probe Digvijaya-Singhar feud

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has referred the issue of public spat involving veteran leader Digvijaya Singh and a Madhya Pradesh minister to the party's central disciplinary committee, a senior leader said on Sunday.

The move comes after MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday.

Prior to it, Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Deepak Babariya on Friday submitted his report to Gandhi over the infighting in the party's state unit and the unsavoury remarks made by partymen in public.

"The Congress' disciplinary committee chairman A K Antony is expected to come up with his report on the matter by next week," a senior party leader said.

Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Umang Singhar, said to be close to senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, recently made some critical statements against former MP chief minister Digvijaya Singh and accused him of running the Nath government from behind the curtains. He also called Singh a blackmailer.

Asked whether action would be taken against Singhar, the party leader said it depends on how Antony views the feud and draws a conclusion.

Singh earlier linked Singhar's remarks to his allegations associating BJP and Bajrang Dal leaders with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

The 72-year-old Rajya Sabha member also met Gandhi in New Delhi last week and complained to her about Singhar.

Top leaders of the Madhya Pradesh Congress have of late been going public against each other. There is also a tussle over the post of party president in the state.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath holds the post of the state unit president, which senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is keen to wrest.

Scindia earlier lost the chief ministerial race to Nath narrowly when the Congress came to power in the state in December last year after 15 years.