Former MP CM Kamal Nath says "ready to rest"; sparks retirement talks
Chhindwara (MP),Dec 15: Veteran Congressl eader Kamal Nath has said he was "ready to rest" and not hankering for any post, setting off speculation that he is hinting at possible retirement from active politics.
Nath's comments, made at a party event on Sunday, came over a month after the Congress won just 9 out of the 28 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where bypolls were held in early November.
Making amends in his statement, the former chief minister (74), who had just 15-month-long stint in the CMO, on Monday said the day the people of Chhindwara, his native district and constituency, wish that he should retire from active politics, he call it quits.
I am ready to rest. I have spent a lot of time (in politics). I dont hanker for any post or position. I had enough.
"What I got nobody achieved, the MP Congress president said at a meeting of party workers at Sausar near here on Sunday.
On Monday, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly said, The day, the people of Chhindwara wish that I should retire from politics, I will call it quits."
The former Union minister was speaking to reporters at Amarwada in Chhindwara from where he had elected to the Lok Sabha nine times.
Many in the Congress saw his "retirement" statement as mere posturing, saying he is facing resistance to his leadership by a section in his party.
On Sunday, Congress MLA from Sheopur Babulal Jandel said he holds Nath responsible for the party's poor performance in the by-elections to 28 assembly seats.
Nath had spearheaded the campaign for the bypolls in which the Congress won only nine seats, while the rest 19 were bagged by the ruling BJP.
Nath had to step down as Chief Minister in March following a rebellion by a section of party MLAs and ministers.
Twenty-two Congress MLAs, mostly of them Jyotiraditya Scindias associates, had resigned, reducing the Nath government to a minority and paving the way for the BJP to come to power.
Scindia joined the BJP in March and is now a Rajya Sabha member.
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Two held for 'firing' at BJP leader's house in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): A day before the counting of votes for the West Bengal assembly elections, two persons were arrested on Sunday for allegedly being involved in a firing incident outside the residence of a BJP leader in North 24 Parganas district, police said.
BJP leader Kundan Singh lodged a police complaint, alleging that a few gunmen fired at his house in the Noapara constituency around Saturday midnight.
Based on the CCTV footage, the two accused were apprehended, a senior officer said.
BJP's Noapara candidate Arjun Singh, in a post on social media, claimed that around 12.05 am, two armed miscreants arrived on a motorcycle at the residence of Kundan Singh, a BJP functionary and secretary of the Barrackpore organisational district, with an "intent to kill him".
According to the BJP leader, the accused are residents of Garulia and are known criminals.
Their names as offenders had been submitted to the Election Commission, he said.
The police officer did not specify whether the two arrested persons were the same individuals named by Arjun Singh.
According to the complaint, one round of firing took place outside Kundan Singh's house, triggering panic in the area.
The BJP candidate also questioned the role of the police, claiming that one of the accused had been detained by the police on the polling day but was later released in the evening.
The Noapara assembly seat went to the polls on April 29.
Several BJP leaders alleged that attempts were being made to create an atmosphere of fear ahead of the counting and weaken the organisation of the opposition parties.
The counting of votes will take place on May 4. Polling for the West Bengal assembly elections was held on April 23 and April 29.
The BJP urged the Election Commission to intervene immediately to ensure peaceful counting.
TMC candidate Somnath Shyam rubbished Arjun Singh’s allegation, claiming that the BJP nominee had orchestrated the firing incident to divert attention from imminent defeat.
“Arjun Singh knows all the gangsters in the Barrackpore belt. Everyone knows about his links with the underworld. Let the police investigate the incident,” Shyam said.
