Indore, May 12 (PTI) Responding to BJP’s jibes over the age of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath (71), Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia today said the saffron party will get a taste of Nath’s abilities in coming polls.
Scindia, the chief of his party’s campaign committee in Madhya Pradesh, also announced that the Congress would issue a separate manifesto for the youth.
Talking to reporters at the Indore Press Club, Scindia said, “The BJP probably does not know how much energy Kamal Nath possesses. He is an international-level leader, and the BJP will experience his abilities in the Assembly elections.
“It has been often seen that many youngsters behave like 90-year-olds while elderly people are brisk like a young person of 25 years,” he said.
State finance minister Jayant Malaiya recently said it would be difficult for a “bujurg” (aged) man like Nath to take on chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (59).
Asked why the Congress hasn’t made an announcement of its chief ministerial candidate, Scindia said, “The situation in every state is different. Whether it’s Congress or BJP, in several states no face is projected before the elections.”
The Guna MP is considered a prominent contender for the chief minister’s post if the Congress, out of power in Madhya Pradesh for 15 years, makes a comeback.
All prominent Congress leaders in the state will fight unitedly to defeat the ruling BJP, he said, adding that the party high command will decide who will be the chief minister.
Forty lakh educated youth in the state are unemployed, Scindia claimed, while announcing that the Congress would come out with a separate manifesto for the youth, which will feature a program for job creation.
“BJP president Amit Shah has announced that his party will fight the elections on the strength of organisation and not by projecting any face. So chief minister Chouhan is no longer the BJP’s electoral face,” Scindia quipped.
He believed that the Congress should publish its list of candidates at least two months before the polls so that candidates have enough time to campaign, and the youth and women should get a significant number of tickets, Scindia said.
He parried a question about a comparison between Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh who was chief minister from 1993 to 2003, and Chouhan who is at the helm since 2005. He won’t comment on a particular person, Scindia said.
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