The ongoing infighting in ruling Congress in Madhya Pradesh was due to "competition" among its leaders to "amass money" and show who is the "bigger thief", BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Monday.
The MP Congress is in the midst of a tug-of-war with leaders from various factions trading charges against each other, an acrimony underlined by posters of one-upmanship and letter wars between them apparently over the post of state unit chief.
Madhya Pradesh Forests Minister Umang Singhar and party veteran Digvijay Singh are at the centre of this raging feud in the Congress which came to power just nine months ago.
"The infighting in Congress is about who will earn more money, about who is a bigger thief and who is a smaller one.
"A competition is afoot and whoever is getting the opportunity is amassing wealth. Whoever is losing out is making a hue and cry," Vijayvargiya told reporters at the airport here.
He said the Congress government led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath had "failed" on all fronts and added that the "countdown" for its collapse had begun.
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Queried on the Shiromani Akali Dal demanding the resignation of Nath, accusing him of being involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Vijayvargiya took a swipe at the late Rajiv Gandhi who was prime minister at the time.
"The then prime minister (Rajiv Gandhi) had said after 1984 riots that the earth shakes when a big tree falls, which indicated that somewhere such people (who were involved in riots) had support," the BJP leader alleged.
The former Madhya Pradesh minister went on to claim that "Kamal Nath, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar where then youth leaders (of the Congress)", adding action should be taken against those proven guilty by courts.
Nath had previously denied charges related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Accusing the Congress government in Chhattisgarh of engaging in "revenge politics" against the BJP, Vijayvargiya said such acts don't have a "long lifespan", and claimed the opposition should be given its due (by the ruling party) in a democracy.
"I will give a suggestion to the chief minister (Bhupesh Baghel) who is my old friend. Politics of revenge does not survive for long," he said.
The BJP leader went on to claim that people would give a reply to the allegations against his party colleagues over the "fixing" of the Antagarh bypoll.
Manturam Pawar, the Congress candidate in the Antagarh Assembly bypoll in 2014 who abruptly withdrew from the fray, had on Saturday alleged that the election was fixed by former chief ministers Raman Singh (of the BJP) and Ajit Jogi and his son, former MLA Amit Jogi.
Ajit Jogi (73), the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh, which came into existence in November 2000, later quit the Congress and formed his own party, the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J).
Amit Jogi is a former MLA from Marwahi, an ST-reserved seat in Bilaspur district currently held by his father.