War of words between Kamal Nath, Scindia loyalist

Bhopal: Factional bitterness among Madhya Pradesh Congress satraps spilled into Wednesday’s cabinet meeting leading to an altercation between Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Food Minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar, an avowed supporter of party General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia.

There are reports of the proceedings being recorded on phone and played to Scindia, a former Union Minister and a keen rival of Kamal Nath. This was perhaps the first time a cabinet meeting witnessed such heated exchanges in the six months since the Congress government was formed.

The leakage of the proceedings could lead to a bigger controversy as the ministers are bound by oath of secrecy.

In Wednesday’s meet, the arguments began when Public Health Engineering Minister Sukhdev Panse was making a submission and Tomar said he wanted to raise a point. Panse said Tomar could take up the matter after he had finished, but he insisted on being heard first and soon there was a heated exchange between the two.