'Sidelined' Digvijaya Singh has stake in ensuring Congress win in MP polls

While his stature has been gradually declining, Digvijay Singh's presence during the Congress's campaign has been minimised because of the BJP's constant attacks on his ten-year reign

It was the year 1993, when Madhya Pradesh had not yet been divided. The Congress had snatched power from the BJP in the assembly elections, winning 174 seats of the 320-member house.

The Congress’s state unit had a host of veterans who wielded influence not just in MP, but also at the Centre. These included former chief minister Arjun Singh, Shyama Charan Shukla, Madhavrao Scindia, Subhash Yadav, Vidya Charan Shukla and Motilal Vora.

However, the party chose Digvijay Singh, who was then the party’s state unit chief, as the chief minister.

Veteran journalist Deepak Tiwari, who authored Rajnitinama Madhya Pradesh,