Ujjain: Most senior Congress leaders, in general, and those belonging to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Suresh Pachauri and Arun Yadav camps, were conspicuous by their absence during the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Kamal Nath’s maiden visit to the Mahakal City on Wednesday.
Nath arrived at about 1 pm at the Datana airstrip here on Wednesday from Bhopal went first to the Mahakaleshwar Temple to pay obeisance to the presiding deity. Before his arrival at the temple, he was given a rousing welcome by his supporters, enroute. Nath performed ‘panchamrit pujan’ and also worshipped the Mahakal Jyotirlingam at the sanctum-sanctorum for about 20 minutes.
He then visited Ksheer Sagar Colony to the residence of former MLA Batuk Shankar Joshi, to pay homage on the passing away of his younger brother, Bam Shankar Joshi. He then left for Datia along with the PCC working president Jitu Patwari, to pay obeisance at the Pitambara Peeth.
Meanwhile, senior party leaders including Manohar Bairagi, Satya Nayaran Pawar, Rajendra Bharti, Yogesh Sharma, Sultan Shah Lala, Ramlal Malviya, Babulal Malviya, Surendra Singh Sisodia, Mahaveer Prasad Vasishtha, Noorie Khan, Pushpa Chauhan and Chetan Yadav did not spare time to welcome the new PCC chief or meet him either.
Most of these leaders belong to the anti-Kamal Nath camp. However, Nath’s supporters erected his cut outs at several places for his welcome. Prominent among his supporters included Maya Trivedi and Ashok Bhati. Former MP Premchand Guddu, District Congress Committee president Jai Singh Darbar, leader of opposition Rajendra Vasishtha, former MLA Dilip Gurjar were also present.
Commotion prevails
Despite warnings of the police officials and Congress leaders, Kamal Nath supporters tried to create a scene to stay close to him, when he reached the Mahakaleshwar temple. Nath wore shola (unstitched cloth) to enter the sanctum-sanctorum, but more than 12 persons also followed him without permission. They pushed and elbowed senior police officials, including a lady CSP at the ‘naivedya dwar’ before entering the sanctum-sanctorum.
Full protocol for Nath
During his visit, Kamal Nath was accorded complete protocol by the administration. The police control room continuously gave his locations before his arrival, during his stay and after his departure. Pilots and follow vehicles were also provided to him, besides deploying a huge police force at the temple. Moreover, the temple administration also appeared highly vigilant during his visit. As soon he arrived at the temple and changed his clothes, the officials were immediately moved to roll out the ‘red carpet’ on the courtyard of the temple. Interestingly, a press note was also issued in which Nath was described as the PCC chief.
Nath tries to shy away from major questions
Despite this being his first visit, the PCC chief seemed uninterested in speaking to the media. When the media approached him, he declined to speak, but after insistence of some of his loyalists, he finally spoke to the media. He tried to evade questions on whether the Congress was against loan waivers and would be coming out with a white paper on the so-called bankruptcy of the Shivraj Singh Chauhan Government.
He alleged that every person in Madhya Pradesh had a loan of Rs 26, 000 in wake of faulty policies and corrupt practices of the BJP government. Kamal Nath said no new industries were set-up in the state during the last 10 to 15 years despite hosting costly industrial summits and the fact remained that a number of industries had wound-up. He described the much hyped Bhavantar Bhutan Yojana as a drama and alleged that huge corruption had been done in the name of making arrangements during Simhastha Fair-2016, in Ujjain.
He said this was not just his elevation to the post of PCC chief but rather the elevation of all party workers. Hence, they too should also work hard to ensure the party’s victory in the coming assembly polls. Responding to a query, Nath claimed that the Congress would get 150 seats in the election though did not specify that whether he would be contesting the polls or not.