Will contest LS polls from Guna if party asks, says Digvijaya Singh

BHOPAL: Veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, who does not spare any opportunity to attack Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, has expressed his willingness to contest 2024 Lok Sabha elections against the latter, if asked by the party.

Digvijaya was responding to media queries during a press conference on Tuesday. Asked if he would contest the general election from Guna, Digvijaya responded by saying he is a Rajya Sabha MP, but he belongs to Guna and as a Congress member, he would follow the party's instructions.

"See, I will do anything the party orders me to, " he said, adding that he was a Rajya Sabha member presently and there was no need for him to contest the general elections. "But, I am a soldier of the party and would do whatever the party directs me to, " Digvijaya added.

Notably, Guna is the home district of Digvijaya Singh who holds command in the politics of Guna and Raghogarh. He is currently touring 66 Assembly segments identified as "vulnerable" by the Madhya Pradesh Congress on the basis of multiple electoral losses in the past.

It would be pertinent to mention that both Scindia and Digvijaya Singh unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as Congress candidates. While Scindia lost to one-time protege-turned-opponent K. P. Yadav, his first defeat in the stronghold of Guna, Singh lost to BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur.

Ambitious politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1993 to 2003, was ready to contest for Congress' president. However, he withdrew his nomination at the last minute.

Scindia's shifting into the BJP with 22 Congress MLAs in 2020 paved the way for BJP's return to power in the state.