BHOPAL: It was a day of high theatrics and show of strength in the state capital by former chief minister Digvijaya Singh who has recently been dropped from the Congress Working Committee ( CWC ). Singh also resigned from the post of AICC general secretary and is no longer in charge of any state. Yet on Thursday afternoon, Digvijaya Singh proved he cannot be written off.

Less than four months before the assembly elections in the state, the senior Congress leader, along with thousands of his followers, marched to a local police station here to court arrest after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan allegedly called him a “deshdrohi (traitor)” while speaking to reporters in Satna during the ongoing Jan Ashirwad Yatra pre-election roadshow last week.

A day after Chouhan said, “Digvijaya Singh behaves like a traitor”, the Congress leader threw in the gauntlet and challenged him with, “Arrest me for being an anti-national or apologise publicly.” Digvijaya Singh wrote a letter to the chief minister last Friday and said he would court arrest and if there was evidence against him, the police should register a case.

Chouhan did not apologise.

“I belong to a simple backward class family and Rajas and Maharajas can make any accusation they want. No one has the right to humiliate me,” the chief minister said. Launching an attack on Digvijaya, Chouhan said, “He keeps giving controversial statements to be in the news.”

Meanwhile, in the state PCC headquarters here, thousands of Congress workers gathered – some even wearing Digvijaya Singh masks – and started a long march started towards TT Nagar police station. Digvijaya was joined by Rameshwar Neekhra, Raja Pateria and many other leaders who were ministers in his government.

The march continued amid tight security arrangements and heavy barricading and police deployment. When the rally reached near chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan government accommodation on Link Road, Congress members clashed with the police.

Digvijaya Singh was allowed into the police station premises with a handful of senior leaders. SP Rahul Singh refused to arrest him because there was no complaint or proof of sedition against the Congress leader. When the police refused arrest, the former chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP took it in writing that there is no complaint of anti-national activities and sedition against him.

The police gave him a clean-chit on a piece of paper that said, “According to the records in police station TT Nagar, Bhopal there is offence or complaint regarding sedition against Digvijaya Singh”. The paper was signed and stamped by the police station in charge.

“The police have given me in writing that they have no registered case of sedition against me. I will now file a defamation case against Shivraj Singh Chouhan if he does not apologise,” Digvijaya Singh said. He also levelled corruption charges against Chouhan mentioning the Vyapam scam, illegal sand mining and e-tendering irregularities.

