An interesting political scenario unfolded in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on Friday morning as ex-chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh staged a dharna near CM House to protest the alleged repeated failure of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to give him an appointment to meet.
Singh wanted to meet Chouhan over the issue of compensation to people affected by Tem and Suthalia dam projects coming up on the Bhopal-Vidisha border and Rajgarh district respectively. About 1,500 families from these three districts and Guna are to be affected by the projects and are protesting inadequate compensation.
However, around the same time of the dharna, ex-chief minister and MP Congress chief Kamal Nath met Chouhan at the state hangar as the two leaders had one-on-one talks for nearly half hour. Later, Kamal Nath joined the dharna and said that the Congress was with the people affected by the project and would stand by their struggle.
A video grab of Kamal Nath meeting Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the state hangar in Bhopal, MP
On the question of Chouhan giving him (Nath) time to meet but avoiding a meeting with Digvijaya Singh, Nath said that it was a “chance” meeting at the hangar. “I had landed at the state hangar coming from Chhindwara, while the CM was there on his way to Dewas. We happened to meet and talk,” Nath said, visibly irritated by the repeated question.
Nath also said that Chouhan told him about Singh's dharna and that he (Chouhan) was willing to meet Digvijaya. “But when I came here (to the dharna site), Digvijaya Singh told me that he had been seeking an appointment with the CM for one-and-half-months. An appointment was given for today but was cancelled at the last moment,” Nath said.
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While Nath left the dharna site after some time, Digvijaya continued to sit with those affected by the project and political supporters for around three hours, insisting that he should be given a written appointment as the CM did not seem to keep telephonic appointments. He called off the dharna around 2pm after telephonic discussions with the principal secretary of the CM and an assurance of appointment on January 23.
However, the videos of the Chouhan-Nath meet and Digvijaya's dharna got shared widely on social media, with mostly satirical comments about the political equations.
Political high drama
An indication to the political high drama that played out on Friday morning came on Thursday when Digvijaya released a video statement alleging that he had been repeatedly writing to the CM for over a month, seeking appointment to discuss the issue of project-affected people, most of whom are farmers.
Singh said that an appointment was finally fixed for Friday, but it was cancelled on Thursday. “This is not proper. The CM does not have time to meet farmers and a Rajya Sabha member who is ex-CM. I will go on the time allotted to me (on Friday) and wait there to meet the CM. If they want to arrest me, it is fine. But I must say that this will cost dear to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.”
As declared, Singh proceeded towards the CM House around 11am on Friday with the other protesters, but was stopped by the police some distance away. He sat on a dharna there, even as Chouhan left for the state hangar to fly to Dewas.
Earlier in the morning, home minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra called the way of Digvijaya Singh to seek appointment as “Talibani”. Playing Digvijaya's video message, Mishra pointed to the warning tone of the former and asked whether this was the language of a Rajya Sabha member seeking an appointment. Mishra also called the actions “political hypocrisy”.
