Rahul 'mixed-up' CM's of MP, C'garh as both face serious graft allegations: Cong

The Congress said Tuesday party president Rahul Gandhi's "mix up" between the chief ministers of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh was caused as both were facing serious corruption allegations and he was extensively touring both the states along with Rajasthan.

Kartikey Chouhan, the son of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Tuesday filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi for alleging at a rally that his name figured in the Panama Papers.

Gandhi, meanwhile, said he mentioned the name of Chouhan's son in the context of Panama Papers due to "confusion".

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, at a press conference here, said Gandhi was extensively travelling for elections to Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and the chief ministers of the three states were facing "serious corruption charges".

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also made "Saint Kabir, Guru Nankadeva and Baba Gorakhnath sit together" when they belonged to different centuries.

"What could be a bigger confusion than this, this (Rahul Gandhi's) was just a mix-up between the names of two Singhs," he said.

Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Jhabua district of the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh Monday, had said the name of the son of 'mamaji' had figured in the Panama Papers but no action was taken against him.

Though Gandhi had not specifically identified the CM, he was referring to Chouhan who is popularly known as 'mamaji'.

The defamation suit was filed by Kartikey Chouhan in the Special Court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) Suresh Singh through his lawyer Shirish Shrivastava.

In the suit, Kartikey Chouhan has alleged that Gandhi intentionally made the statement to defame him.