On the occasion of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's birthday on Monday, a Hindi newspaper published a full-page advertisement that takes a dig at the Congress Chief Minister. The advertisement mentioned several instances that Kamal Nath wouldn't be proud of.
One of them being, after the Emergency, when the Janata Party government was in power, Sanjay Gandhi was sent to Tihar jail in 1979. Indira Gandhi was worried about Sanjay’s security. So, Kamal Nath deliberately fought with a judge who sent to him to Tihar jail for seven days. There he lived with Sanjay Gandhi.
The full-page advertisement carried the name of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee. However, the party said it did not know who issued the advertisement and paid for it. According to the Indian Express, the party also claimed to have ordered a probe into the matter.
The very next day, the criticisms turned into praises. Another full-page advertisement was published in the same newspaper with flattering references to Kamal Nath.
Tuesday's advertisement spoke about Congress' “amazing victory” under Kamal Nath's leadership in the 2018 Assembly elections, crediting him for opening the doors of investments in the state and creating job opportunities.
Congress general secretary Chandraprabhash Shekhar claimed that the party had nothing to do with the advertisements. He added that the party will soon find out who was behind the controversy, reported Indian Express.
Meanwhile, the BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “The Congress first denied its role and called it a conspiracy by the BJP. What can be more embarrassing for the Congress that it had to release another advertisement while blaming the ad agency? Can an agency malign the CM by using the Pradesh Congress Committee’s name?”
