Bhopal, Nov 1 (IANS) Amid rumours of a rift between two Congress stalwarts -- Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh and state’s Congress chief Kamal Nath, the duo has countered them by projecting their bonding like the iconic Hindi movie 'Sholay’s' popular characters -- Jai and Veeru.

The two Congress leaders, who are 76 years of age, are leading the party from the front for another bipolar battle against arch-rival and the ruling BJP in the November 17 Assembly election. Both on Tuesday claimed that their "friendship was like 'Sholay' film’s Jai-Veeru and they will end the rule of Gabbar Singh".

They referred the word ‘Gabbar Singh’ (villain in 'Sholay') to the incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The BJP alleged that state Congress leadership has been battling factionalism, and the subject has become a talking point in the political circle after the duo went to Delhi for a meeting.  

It all started after the Congress released the second list of its candidates on October 20, following which, the supporters of some of the leaders who were denied tickets, started protesting and alleged that there was ‘bias' in candidate selection. The Congress leadership, however, maintained that candidates were selected on the basis of multiple surveys conducted by the party and seeing the balance of caste and regional equation along with win-ability.

Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh had then said that, “I have been involved in the process of candidate selection for more than 34 years and I can say that the level of transparency in selecting candidates this time, was never before in Madhya Pradesh. Candidates were selected on the basis of multiple surveys and involvement of local party workers.”

However, the relentless protest and annoyance from the party workers prompted the Congress leadership to replace its candidates in seven Assembly seats. On the occasion of releasing the party’s election manifesto two weeks ago, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh bantered on stage over the ‘kurta-fad’ remark.

However, Kamal Nath had said that his relationship with Digvijaya Singh was beyond politics and has given the latter the “power of attorney” to become a safe-guard for him.