'A forest has only one lion' Digvijaya Singh retorts at Scindia's 'Tiger Zinda Hai'; Kamal Nath says 'Bypolls will tell who lives'

Madhya Pradesh's political jungle has come alive with "tigers" and "lions" dominating the face-off between rivals Congress and the BJP who have engaged in a 'Jungle Book' wordplay in the State ahead of the Assembly bypolls later this year.

A day after BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia's "Tiger abhi zinda hai," jibe, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday said there is "only one lion in a forest", a reply intended to taunt the former, who had switched to the BJP in a rebellion which toppled the Kamal Nath Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh's comment comes in the wake of an expansion of the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet, on Thursday which inducted 28 new ministers, which includes 12 former rebels of Congress whose exit from the party along with Scindia's had led to the collapse of the 15-month old Kamal Nath regime. Chouhan after taking oath on March 23 had inducted five members into his ministry only on April 21.

While talking to media here, Singh said that the present cabinet is an interim cabinet and the cabinet will be finalised after by-elections.

"There are 14 people in the cabinet who are not MLAs. So, there is an interim cabinet here. The final cabinet will be there after by-election after it will become clear how many people in the present cabinet win or lose," he said.

"After the formation of the cabinet, those who did not get into the cabinet has become the lion. There can be only one lion in the Jungle. I tweeted it and everyone should understand it," he added.

Earlier former chief minister Kamal Nath while talking to said:"Who is alive, who is not alive, who is an elephant, who is a horse, who is a tiger, all these things will become clear during the by-election."

"They toppled the democratically elected government and now people of Madhya Pradesh will give a befitting reply to them in the by-polls. For the sake of just saying anyone can say anything. For the first time in history of democracy, 14 out of 33 ministers are not MLAs. It is not an elected but a traded government," he said.

The 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly has 24 vacant seats after 22 MLAs resigned and two died. The strength of the House now stands at 206. Presently, BJP has 107 MLAs while the rival Congress has 92. The BSP has two seats while SP has one.

Madhya Pradesh heads to polls for 24 Assembly seats later this year.

Scindia had on Thursday said: "I don't need any certificate from Kamal Nath nor Digvijaya Singh. The facts are before the people how they looted the state in 15 months. They have taken everything for themselves. They (people) have also seen their history of going back on promises. But I would only like to tell them 'Tiger abhi zinda hai (tiger is alive)," Scindia had said.

Meanwhile, commenting upon the Modi's surprise visit to Ladakh, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said, "It is good thing. He has realised the seriousness of the matter,"

The Prime Minister on Friday made a surprise visit to Ladakh and was briefed by senior officers at Nimmoo amid ongoing tension with China. The Prime Minister was accomped by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane.

( With inputs from ANI )