‘Sack him’: After Kamal Nath’s ‘item’ row, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan writes letter to Sonia

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday wrote a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over former CM Kamal Nath‘s “item” remark against state minister Imarti Devi, ANI reported.  

In his letter, the CM asked Gandhi to “immediately remove” Nath from all party posts and to “strongly condemn his statement.”

“If you fail to react, I’ll be compelled to believe that you support it,” Chouhan wrote.

Ahead of the November 3 by-elections in the state, Nath while addressing a poll meeting on Sunday in Gwalior’s Dabra town, where the Congress is up against Imarti Devi, said his party candidate was a “simple person” unlike his opponent who is an “item”.

Imarti Devi was among the 22 MLAs loyal to former Congress leader-turned BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who resigned from the Congress and the state Assembly and joined the BJP in March this year. This brought down Kamal Nath’s government.

Taking offence to his predecessor’s remark, Chouhan, along with Scindhia, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other party leaders sat on a two-hour silent fast on Monday, PTI reported.

Chouhan along with state ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh, Vishwas Sarang and some women members of the BJP began the ‘maun vrat’ (silent fast) at Minto Hall in Bhopal at 10 am.

BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Scindia and Lok Sabha member Shankar Lalwani sat on the silent protest at Regal Square in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Indore city.

Besides, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma, senior party leader Prabhat Jha along with some other leaders staged a similar protest in Gwalior.

By-elections for 28 Assembly seats in the state will be held on November 3 and the counting of votes will be held on November 10.