New Delhi: Fresh signs of fissures in the Congress surfaced after party veteran Digvijaya Singh shared a throwback photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and praised the organisational strength of the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In a post on social media, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister shared a photo of Modi from the 1990s, when he was just a karyakarta (party worker). The image shows a young Modi squatting on the floor, near LK Advani who is seated on a chair.
Digvijaya termed the picture, apparently taken during the swearing-in ceremony of former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela three decades ago,
Digvijaya highlighted pointed out a grassroots worker who once sat on the floor could grow within the RSS-BJP organisation and become chief minister and then Prime Minister.
“I found this picture on Quora. It is very impactful. How an RSS grassroots swayamsevak and a Jana Sangh/BJP worker, who once sat on the floor at the feet of leaders, went on to become the Chief Minister of a state and the Prime Minister of the country. This is the power of organisation. Jai Siya Ram,” the Rajya Sabha MP tweeted.
Digvijaya, known to speak his mind, tagged the social media handles of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, and influential MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. No one missed the message Digvijaya wanted to send across to the Congress high command.
What made it even more significant was that Digvijaya’s post came at a time when Congress held a meeting of its working committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.
Digvijaya’s post has added to Congress’ discomfort, after Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor’s frequent praises for Modi and the Central government’s policies.
The BJP pounced on Digvijaya’s post and took potshots at Rahul Gandhi.
“Will Rahul Gandhi show courage and react to the shocking ‘truth bomb’ dropped by Digvijaya Singh, which has totally exposed how Congress’s first family ruthlessly runs the party in a dictatorial manner and also how autocratic and undemocratic this Congress leadership is?” BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan tweeted.
As his post snowballed into a controversy, Digvijaya clarified that he only praised the organisational structure and would continue opposing the BJP.
Last week, Digvijaya sought organisational reforms within the Congress and said it was “not easy to convince” Rahul Gandhi.
“Rahul Gandhi ji… please look at Congress. Like the Election Commission needs reforms, so does Congress. You have started with organisation creation, but we need more pragmatic decentralised functioning. I am sure you would do it because I know you can do it. Only problem is that it is not easy to ‘convince’ you,” said Digvijaya’s earlier post.
