Even CM Chouhan is welcome to join Congress, says Kamal Nath

With his tongue firmly in his cheek, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath invited Saturday chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to join the opposition party.

Senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur had yesterday praised Nath for development of Chhindwara, the Congress leader's Lok Sabha constituency.

Asked at a press conference today whether he would invite Gaur to switch allegiance to Congress, Nath said, "Why only Gaur, I also invite Shivraj Singh Chouhan to join the Congress.

"What Gaur has said is a reality. I have data that shows that as a union urban development minister, I had released the highest-ever amount of money for Madhya Pradesh. I had released over Rs 4,500 crore for MP," he said.

Asked whether he would contest the coming Assembly election, Nath said, "I have not yet decided, because I am still a Member of Parliament.

"It is also being said that both elections (Assembly and Lok Sabha) will be held together because (BJP president) Amit Shah had written a letter in this regard to the Law Commission. The letter was not written by some minor leader. This shows the seriousness of the issue," he said.

He termed demonetisation as a complete failure, saying that "more currency than the amount demonetised has returned to the banks.