Digvijay taunts Azad and Scindia, says it must be embarrassing for them to attack Congress

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday taunted former party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jyotiraditya Scindia, saying that it must be embarrassing for both of them to attack the grand old party as it gave everything to them when they were in the organisation.

He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using these leaders to attack the Congress.

While Scindia quit the Congress in March 2020, Azad resigned from the grand old party in August 2022, ending his more than five decade association with it. Scindia, who was considered close to Rahul Gandhi, later joined the ruling BJP and became the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, while Azad has floated his own party named the Democratic Azad Party.

Speaking to reporters here, Singh said he agrees with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's statement that when Ghulam Nabi Azad was in the Congress, he was completely "azad" (free), but after leaving the grand old party he has become a "ghulam" (slave).

"Congress has given everything to Azad and Scindia and both were asked to attack the party. Isn't it embarrassing for both of them? It is an embarrassment," Singh said in response to a question if the BJP was using these leaders to attack the Congress.

Singh added that in the past, if anybody wanted to join the dacoits when they were active in Bhind area of Madhya Pradesh, the leader of the gang used to ask the new recruit to kill a particular person, and only if that task was accomplished, he could become a part of the syndicate.

"BJP has done a similar thing with Azad and Scindia by asking them to attack Congress," he said.

Both Azad and Scindia have been targeting the Congress leadership over various issues with former party president Rahul Gandhi criticising the BJP on a number of issues, including billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani.

When asked about the killing of the gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj last week, the Rajya Sabha member said valid questions were being raised on the issue, like what was the need of taking them for a medical check-up at night as it could have been conducted in the afternoon.

"Secondly, the vehicle carrying him should have been taken inside the hospital premises, but he was asked to get down on the road despite the fact that he was under heavy protection with police personnel carrying AK-47 rifles following Supreme Court directives," Singh said.

"Young boys attacked him in the garb of being media persons by carrying fake identity cards. No checking was done despite high security. How were those addicted to opium engaged? How did they get the Turkish pistol, worth Rs 5-7 lakh, that was also used in the killing of the Sidhu Moosewala (Punjabi singer). All these questions have cropped up and they should be answered," he added.

Atiq and Ashraf, who were arrested in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal in February this year, were gunned down in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh late Saturday night by three men posing as journalists while the siblings were being taken to a hospital.