'Not the chief ministerial face': Kamal Nath's jibe at Shivraj Chouhan

Congress leader Kamal Nath hit out at Shivraj Singh Chouhan and said that whenever PM Modi visits Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan involves him in his lies

Congress leader Kamal Nath on Monday mocked Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over not being the face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s election campaign in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

Kamal Nath, a former chief minister, said that whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the state, Chouhan involves him in his "lies".

"That is why he [PM Modi] has excluded you from the entire election campaign. You are the first chief minister in this country, who is the chief minister but is not the chief minister's face," Nath wrote on X (formerly Twitter), ahead of PM Modi's visit to the state today.

The BJP will decide on the Madhya Pradesh chief minister's post only after the elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier said when asked if Chouhan will continue in the top post.

Slamming the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government in the state, Kamal Nath said that the "double speed of your lying machine" has troubled both the Prime Minister and the people of Madhya Pradesh.

"You told him [PM Modi] in Rewa that the farmers' income has more than doubled, but the NITI Aayog report showed that the income of Madhya Pradesh farmers had decreased," alleged Nath.

In Bhopal, he said, Chouhan handed a wrong leaflet to the Prime Minister that said the petrol price was less than Rs 100 per litre in Madhya Pradesh.

He further alleged the chief minister also lied over gas cylinder prices in his state.

"When the Prime Minister visited Sagar district, you made him say that the Congress government did not pay attention to Bundelkhand whereas the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had given a special Bundelkhand package of Rs 7,200 crore," added Nath.

Elections for the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held in or before November this year. In the 230-member assembly, the ruling BJP holds 128 seats, while the Opposition Congress has 98 members.