Chinks in Congress exposed?: Digvijaya Singh shares old photo of PM Modi, stirs row with BJP, RSS praise

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh kicked up another controversy on Saturday with a social media post in which he appeared to “praise” the BJP and the RSS by applauding how grassroots workers who once sat on the floor grew within the Sangh-BJP system and went on to become chief minister and prime minister. “I found this picture on the Quora site. It is very impressive. The way grassroots swayamsevaks (workers) of the RSS and workers of the Jan Sangh/BJP sit on the floor at the feet of leaders and go on to become the Chief Minister of a state and the Prime Minister of the country shows the power of the organisation. Jai Siya Ram,” Singh said in a post on X in Hindi.

Singh, who was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, shared a black and white photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the 1990s and praised the BJP and RSS, which the Congress leadership keeps targeting regularly.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh shared a photo from 1990s, showing PM Narendra Modi sitting on the floor Photograph: (X\@digvijaya_28)

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The photo showed BJP veteran LK Advani seated on a chair with other leaders while attending an event in Gujarat, and a young Modi sitting on the floor before him.

He issued a clarification after his post sparked a controversy and told reporters that he had only praised the organisation, and would continue to oppose the BJP and RSS.

The photo shared by Singh was reportedly clicked during the swearing-in ceremony of former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela in 1996.

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Digvijaya Singh’s post message to party high command?

Since Digvijaya Singh had tagged Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party’s social media handles in his post, it is being seen as his message to the party high command.

A week earlier, Digvijaya Singh had called for reforms within the Congress and urged Rahul Gandhi to look into it. The party needs more “pragmatic decentralised functioning,” he had said on December 19, but regretted that it was “not easy to convince” Gandhi.

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“Rahul Gandhi ji, you are absolutely ‘Bang On’ in matters of Socio-Economic Issues. Full Marks. But now please look at @INCIndia also. Like @ECISVEEP needs Reforms, So Does Indian National 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,” he said in the post.

Singh’s second Rajya Sabha tenure is due to end early next year, and a third term appears unlikely, since Kamal Nath and Meenakshi Natarajan are already in the queue and could be the frontrunners for his seat.

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‘Truth bomb,’ says BJP to taunt Rahul Gandhi

The BJP taunted Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over Singh’s tweet terming it a ‘truth bomb’. BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan said that Singh’s comment has exposed the “autocratic and undemocratic” Congress leadership.

“Will Rahul Gandhi show courage & react to the shocking Truth Bomb dropped by Shri. Digvijaya Singh’s tweet which has totally exposed how Congress first family ruthlessly runs the party in a dictatorial manner and also how autocratic & undemocratic this Congress leadership is (sic),” he said in an X post.