Bhopal: A war of words has ensued between the BJP and the Congress after the former calling state new Congress president Kamal Nath an ‘Old Man’ questioned his ability to lead the party. Congress leaders retaliated and in turn questioned the Chief Minister’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet which as per them is full of ‘Old Men’. The BJP leaders are trying to project Nath as an ‘old man’ who stands no chance against Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the assembly elections due later this year.
Speculations are rife that Nath could be the chief ministerial face of the Congress in the upcoming polls. Breaking his silence over being dubbed as an ‘old man’, Nath on Thursday dared BJP saying,‘ If any leader who is more than 50-year-old can come and face me.” Wordy duel between the two rival parties triggered when the Nath recently commented on the ‘friendship’ with chief minister and other BJP leaders during ‘Meet The Press’ programme.
He had claimed that enjoys good relations with the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other BJP leaders. He went on to say, “Kuchh Dost layak hote hain aur kuchh dost …….”. Nath’s comment opened the Pandora ’s Box with leaders of the ruling party joining hands to dub him as elderly man who should not be taken seriously.
Kamal Nath is an elderly person, a senior and old Congressman who has crossed the age of 71 years, said parliament affair minister Narrottam Mishra, adding that he respects him for his long career in politics and would not comment on his ‘friendship’ remark., Finance minister Jayant Malaiya on Wednesday had said that the Congress has pitted an elderly leader like Kamal Nath (71) against Chouhan. “Kamal Nath is no match to Chouhan (59) in terms of popularity. Shivraj is very popular among the people for the welfare works he has done, Malaiya had told reporters in Indore on Wednesday.
The spokesperson Dr Hitesh Vajpyee also said “There is no capable youth in the Congress party so they had to call the Old Man (Kamal Nath) to hold the office”. Congress Vichar wing state president, Bhupendra Gupta, citing example of veteran leaders like L K Adwani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others said that BJP is the party which never pays respect to their elders and old man. Congress always give due respect to its elders and also gives space to the youths to come forward, he added.
Congress comes up with a list of BJP ‘old men’
No ready to let go the issue of their State president being called an ‘old man’ the Congress leaders here has come out with a list of BJP ‘Old Men’ including the top state and national leaders who are above 65 years.
Party spokesperson Narendra Saluja said that people who are claiming that Kamal Nath is an old Man should answer as what do they think about the finance minister Jayant Malaiya (71), rural development minister Gopal Bhargava (65), PHE minister Kusum Mehdele (74), health minister Rustam Singh (73).
Their list also figures the names of power minister Paras Chand Jain (67), forest minister Gourishankar Shejwar (67), agriculture minister Gourishankar Bisen (66), revenue minister Umashankar Gupta (65), urban development minister Maya Singh (67) and many others. “If we take into account the leaders at national level, then prime minister Narendra Modi is 67 and AICC president Rahul Gandhi is 47 years old, he exclaimed.
