Congress leader Randeep Surjewala drew an analogy from the movie Sholay to explain the bond between Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath and senior leader Digvijaya Singh. Dismissing rumours of rift within the Madhya Pradesh Congress, Surjewala said on Saturday, “The relationship between Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan (in Sholay) is the same as between Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath.”
Surjewala, while addressing a press conference in Bhopal, said, “Neither ‘Gabbar Singh’ (film’s lead villain) could get them into a fight (in movie) nor will BJP’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) Gabbar Singh be able to get it done here.”
In the iconic movie ‘Sholay’, Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra played the roles of ‘Jai’ and ‘Veeru’. The friendship between the two characters in the movie was one of a kind. In the movie, the two friends flee from jail and are later hired by a retired police officer to face off with Gabbar Singh, a dreaded dacoit.
The BJP took a dig at Surjewala’s comments, drawing the same Jai-Veeru analogy, but with a twist. The party said Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh “jail escapees” and deceitful — as were the characters of Dharmendra and Bachchan in the movie.
“These were the movie characters who escaped from jail. The same is the condition of Mr Bantadhar (as BJP calls Digvijaya Singh) and Corruptionnath (Nath dubbed by BJP) in Madhya Pradesh. They have looted Congress workers. They looted the general public whenever they got an opportunity. No one was spared from these two,” state BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
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Earlier this month, a video of Kamal Nath emerged in which he purportedly asked his party men to “tear” clothes of Digvijaya Singh over the denial of a ticket to a leader from Shivpuri, PTI reported. The incident fuelled talks of a rift in the party over the selection of candidates. However, the former chief ministers sought to make light of the episode and put up a united face.
On Saturday, Surjewala also dismissed reports of rift between Congress members and said Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and all other party members are working together for the development of Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP had on Friday again alleged that Digvijaya Singh has distanced himself from the campaigning following the “dispute” over ticket distribution. As BJP latched on to the video to target Congress, Nath had clarified that the relations between Singh and him were not merely political.
Madhya Pradesh has 230 Assembly constituencies and all seats will be polling on November 17. The Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2023 Result will be declared on December 3.
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Updated: 28 Oct 2023, 06:13 PM IST