Digvijaya, Kamal Nath hit back at Scindia

Bhopal: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday hit back at former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia over his Tiger abhi zinda hai remark and said "only one tiger lives in a forest".

The Congress Rajya Sabha MP also recalled how he used to hunt tigers, when it was not banned, with Jyotiraditya Scindia's father Madhavrao Scindia.

Singh's attack on Scindia came a day after the expansion of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans cabinet which saw a lion's share of berths going to the supporters of the former Guna MP who joined the BJP in March.

"You know the character of a tiger, in a forest only one tiger lives," Singh tweeted in Hindi after Scindias 'tiger' comments directed at him and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Thursday.

Talking to reporters after the expansion of the Chouhan cabinet, Scindia, asked about Congress leaders tarnishing his image and that of his loyalists, said, I will certainly respond to the Congress party, but I would like to remind both Nath and Singh that Tiger abhi zinda hai ((Tiger is still alive).

Scindia repeated the 'tiger' remark at a party function on Thursday evening.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath also took a veiled swipe at Scindia, his one-time rival in the party and now a BJP MP, over his statement that `Tiger is still alive'.

Speaking after the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's expansion on Thursday, Scindia, whose exit from the Congress with 22 MLAs toppled the Nath government in March, said he wanted to tell Congress leaders that "Tiger abhi zinda hai."

Speaking at a function in Ratlam district, Nath referred to the remark, and asked, "Which tiger is alive, paper tiger or a circus one?

Nath also took digs at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am neither a maharaja nor a `Mama'," he said. Scindia, who belongs to a former royal family, is sometimes called `Maharaja' in state politics, while Chouhan's popular nickname is `Mama' (uncle).

"I have not even sold tea, I am just Kamal Nath," he said, in a jibe at the prime minister.

"Some people say they are tigers. I am not even a tiger, but I am also not a paper tiger. Now the people of the state will decide who is who," the Congress veteran added.