Chouhan wants to become ''Modi junior'': Digvijay

Bhopal, Mar 13 (UNI) All-India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh today alleged that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wanted to become ''(Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra) Modi junior'' and convert this state into ''another'' Gujarat by instigating a communal flare-up on the Gujarat pattern.

''The (ruling) Bharatiya Janata Party wishes to derive political mileage by disturbing communal harmony,'' he told journalists in the Assembly Press Room here.

Referring to a statement once made by former Chief Minister D P Mishra, Mr Singh said that starting a riot and controlling it were in a chief minister's hands.

Responding to a question, the former Chief Minister said, ''if the Chief Minister does not know where riots took place in the state, he should also contemplate whether he is fit to continue in his present capacity.'' Pointing out that the Chief Minister received intelligence reports, he added that it was necessary to deal firmly with divisive forces that triggered ''Hindu-Muslim'' riots.

''During my tenure, I acted strongly against the Students' Islamic Movement of India, Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad members,'' Mr Singh claimed.

Referring to recurring communal tension in Madhya Pradesh's commercial capital Indore, the Congress leader said that a BJP MLA from that city was attempting to vitiate the atmosphere there.

When asked to react to the three bypoll results declared recently, Mr Singh said, ''when the party emerges victorious, I give credit to the leader concerned. When the party loses, I take the responsibility.'' Dodging a poser on the Congress' Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, he said that unity prevailed in the Congress state unit whose supremo Subhash Yadav was all-powerful.

In the context of the Congress rout in the 2003 Assembly hustings, Mr Singh said, ''I never stated that the Congress does not need the votes of employees and the upper castes. My words were quoted out of context.'' UNI