'BJP fought polls alongside PFI; Never opposed ban on PFI as claimed by Shah'

Bhopal, Apr 27 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday rejected Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s allegation that he had opposed the ban on the Popular Front of India and instead accused the BJP of contesting polls in Karnataka in alliance with PFI’s political unit.

Singh, the Congress candidate from Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, also countered Shah’s allegation concerning the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), saying he had banned the outfit when was MP’s chief minister.

Addressing a rally in Khilchipur under Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat on Friday, Shah had accused Singh of opposing the ban on PFI and the capital punishment for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru besides using the term ‘bhagwa aatankwad (saffron terror)”.

Singh said Shah took his name 17 times and spoke lies about him eight times.

Singh wrote on X that Shah had claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi included personal loans for Muslims in their party manifesto on his advice.

But the fact is that there is no mention of “Muslim personal loan” in Congress’ manifesto, said Singh, asserting that he had never used the term “bhagwa aatankwad” as claimed by Shah.

The Rajya Sabha member said he never opposed the hanging of Afzal Guru. On the contrary, Singh claimed, he had favoured Guru’s hanging at the earliest.

“Amit Shah lied that Digvijaya Singh had opposed the ban on PFI,” Singh said, accusing the BJP of contesting the local elections in Karnataka in alliance with the Islamic extremist outfit.

Singh said he never opposed the ban on PFI and claimed he was the first to ban SIMI during his tenure as the CM of Madhya Pradesh.

Singh had represented the Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency in 1984 and 1991. His hometown Raghogarh falls under this parliamentary seat, which will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.

In his social media post, Singh said he had arranged oxygen cylinders during the COVID pandemic and never opposed the vaccination as alleged by Shah.

The medical college in Rajgarh was proposed during the Congress government in the state, he claimed, seeking to highlight the work done by his party. The railway line from Bhopal to Ramganj Mandi was also proposed during that time, he said.

In another tweet, the Congress leader also responded to Shah’s “farewell from politics” comment alluded to him.

“The time has come to give him a permanent farewell from politics... ‘Aashiq ka janaaza hai, zara dhoom se nikle’. Defeat him with a massive margin and make him sit at home,” the senior BJP leader had said.

Singh claimed that Shah asked people to take out his “janaaza” (funeral).

“That means BJP leaders want to take out my funeral!! And why? Because I care about all of you. If I had wanted, I would have refused to contest the elections but the neglect of the people of my home area forced me to contest this election,” Singh said, adding that he would continue to fight for the people till his last breath.

The BJP has renominated sitting MP Rodmal Nagar from the Rajgarh seat.

Singh had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Bhopal where BJP’s Pragya Singh Thakur defeated him by nearly 3.65 lakh votes. PTI