Shivraj 'reveals' plot to topple Nath government

Bhopal: Former minister in Kamal Nath government, Jitu Patwari, on Wednesday accused the Centre of conspiring to topple the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. He said no less a person than Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has admitted it.

Patwari told a press conference, "During the Indore visit on Monday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accepted before his party's activists from Sanwer that he toppled the government at the instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J.P. Nadda."

An audio clip in which Chouhan is allegedly heard making this claim is being widely circulated. The BJP has so far vehemently denied the Congress allegations of complicity in the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in March. Chouhan has been among the loudest in his denials.

He is purportedly heard saying in Hindi in the audio clip, "It was the central leadership which had decided that the government will be dislodged, else it would ruin everything". "Tell me, was it possible to dislodge the government without Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tulsi Bhai? There was no other way," he is allegedly heard telling party workers at Sanwer. He visited the area on Tuesday.

Media has refrained from owning up the authenticity of the audio clip. The BJP or the Chief Minister have not reacted so far. The "Tulsi Bhai," referred to in the clip, is a Scindia loyalist and former health minister who had initiated action on the corona epidemic in the state. He joined the BJP along with him. Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja, "vouched for the authenticity of the clip" claiming that the party would release the video of the meeting if Chouhan disowned his voice in the audio.

"We were insisting for a long time that the conspiracy to topple Congress government was hatched in the state in collusion with the Centre.