After former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's remarks against a BJP woman minister sparked controversy, instead of giving a clarification the Congress has raised questions against BJP stating that they are "shedding crocodile tears" and saying pointless things to distract everyone.
Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate told ANI, "BJP is distracting people from the main issues and shedding crocodile tears. The entire nation has got to know how Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government has murdered democracy. Now it is well known that they have spent Rs 20 to Rs 50 crores for horse trading of MLAs but now when these MLAs know they are losing in the elections, they are furious about it." Shrinate said that the truth is, these MLAs along with BJP have murdered democracy and now they are raising pointless issues only to distract people's attention.
"If Shivraj Singh Chouhan really cares about women's respect then firstly he should work on providing respect and safety to woman in his own state," Shrinate added.
In the run-up to Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly by-polls, former chief minister Kamal Nath referred to BJP leader Imarti Devi as an "item", sparking a controversy.
"Suresh Raje ji hamare ummeedvar hai...yeh uske jaise nah hai...kya hai uska naam ... main kya uska naam lun? ...apko toh mujhe pehle savdhan karna chahiye tha ... yeh kya item hai... (Our candidate is not like her... what's her name? You know her better and should have warned me earlier... What an item!), Kamal Nath said in Hindi while the crowd called out Imarti Devi's name.Twenty-eight assembly seats will go for by-polls in Madhya Pradesh on November 3.
However, Nath clarified his statement saying, "I said something. It wasn't to insult anyone. I just didn't remember the (person's) name...this list (in his hand) says item no.1, item no. 2. Is this an insult? Shivraj is looking for excuses. Kamal Nath doesn't insult anyone; he'll only expose you with truth." Today Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi over Kamal Nath's remark and demanded his immediate removal from all party posts. Chouhan has strongly condemned Nath's statement.
