'If Cong wins...': Video of Shivraj's son sparks row

A controversy has erupted after Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's son, Kartikey, said during a public meeting in bypoll-bound Budhni that 'not even a brick will be laid in any village' in case a Congress candidate wins the by-election.

IMAGE: Shivraj Singh Chouhan with his son Kartikey Chouhan. Photograph: ANI Photo

A video of his purported statement went viral on social media, inviting criticism from Congress veteran and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh, who advised him to refrain from making such remarks, while Kartikey hit back at him for 'not doing anything worthwhile' during his 10 years of chief ministership.

By-election will be held in the Budhni assembly seat in the state on November 13. It was necessitated after former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigned after his victory in the Lok Sabha elections from Vidisha constituency.

Addressing a meeting in Bherunda town in Budhni of Sehore district earlier this week, Kartikey Singh Chouhan said, "Why should we spoil our reputation by tampering with our polling? Don't we need to go to our chief minister to get the work done? Don't we not need to approach our respected agriculture minister to get the work done?"

"Tell me sarpanch ji, how will you do the work? Answer me. If things go wrong (in results), then how shall we face the leaders and request them to get work done? Which road will you get constructed? Even if by mistake a Congress MLA wins, though it is not going to happen, but even by mistake it happens, then you all should understand that not even a brick will be laid in any village," he said.

Digvijaya Singh took to X to share Kartikey's video, and advised him to learn from his father Shivraj Singh Chouhan and not speak such language.

"Kartikey, don't give such speeches at this stage. Learn from your father. In democracy, the government and the opposition together cooperate in building India. I was the Chief Minister for 10 years, but I never used such language. Your father is a witness to that," the Congress leader said.

"In the Panchayati Raj Act, the responsibility of doing construction work is of a sarpanch and not an MLA. And you are neither a sarpanch nor an MLA. You are like my grandson. This is my opinion, you may consider it fit or not," he added.

However, Kartikeya reacted sharply to the former chief minister's advice to him.

Talking to PTI on Friday, he said he respects Digvijaya Singh, who is a senior Congress leader and has served as Madhya Pradesh chief minister twice.

"I am really proud that he closely follows me and my remarks. As far as his (Singh's) and Congress leaders' remarks are concerned, they only create fearmongering. I want to tell him that the people of Budhni are afraid of your 10-year rule when you left the state on the verge of destruction. People are afraid of pothole-riddled roads and power cuts. The people are afraid of your rule. We wanted to learn from you (Digvijay Singh), but you never did anything in your 10-year rule," Kartikey said.

Incidentally, Kartikey's name was doing the rounds as a potential candidate for the Budhni bypoll before the BJP chose former MP Ramakant Bhargava, who will take on Congress' Ramkumar Patel.

The bypoll will be held on November 13, while results will be declared on November 23.

Apart from Budhni, by-election will also be held in Vijaypur in Sheopur district. The counting of votes will be held on November 23.