Now, Imarti Devi Makes �Item� Remark Against Kamal Nath�s Mother, BJP Leader�s �Dead Body� Threat Fuels Row
23-October-2020

Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Minister Imarti Devi, who has been caught in the eye of a storm following MPCC chief Kamal Nath's "item" remark, seems to be heading for trouble herself. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sharpened its attack on the Congress over Nath's comment and accused it of insulting a Dalit woman. The party has also lodged complaints in several Constitutional bodies, including the National Commission for Women. Notably, on Wednesday, the Election Commission of India also sought an explanation from Nath over his remarks and gave him 48 hours.

But now, a video has surfaced on social media in which Imarti Devi seems to be engaged in a tirade against Nath for his remark. As the video concludes, the minister makes a contentious remark against Nath�s family. �He (Nath) is a man from Bengal who came to Madhya Pradesh for becoming chief minister and has no manners about how to speak. What can be said to such a man? He has lost mental composure after losing the chief minister�s post....His mother and sister could be the item of Bengal (sic)," the minister can be heard saying in the 30-second video clip shared on Twitter by Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who in the past, has contested Lok Sabha polls on a Congress party ticket.

The video was shared on the micro-blogging site by Pramod Krishnam along with the caption: �Imarti Devi�s kind words for ten-time Lok Sabha member Kamal Nath and his late mother.� It, however, is not clear when and where Imarti Devi made these statements. The BJP and Congress are yet to react to the video.

In another development, the row continued to gain steam as a BJP candidate in the upcoming bypolls, issued a threat to Nath. Girraj Dandotiya, a minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, while commenting on Nath�s �item� remark against Imarti Devi, said if the Congress leader had made the remarks in Dimni as opposed to Dabra, then the leader would have been killed. Previously, Dandotiya was an MLA in Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh.

Held at Kmatari in Dimni, the political meet was also attended by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia. The minister said, �You know what Kamal Nath has said in Dabra, if someone had said this against the mothers and sisters of Chambal, he would have left dead from here. It was good, Kamal Nath was in Dabra. She is a woman of SC caste but mothers and sisters could be of any caste, they belong to us," Dandotiya said.

After his remarks, Congress workers staged a protest in the evening at Morena collectorate and handed a memorandum to senior officials against the minister of state. "CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP state head should make it clear if they agree to the remarks of Dandotiya, and if not, the man should be axed from the cabinet immediately," Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja said. Demanding a case against the minister, the Congress has affirmed it would move EC on the matter.