Jabalpur – Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari launched a counteroffensive against Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Wednesday, criticizing the BJP leader's comments on "groupism within the Congress party.

Patwari, speaking at a press conference in Jabalpur, defended his leadership style, stating that his focus has been on uniting party workers against alleged corruption within the BJP. He accused the BJP's media cell of misconstruing his earlier statement about "groupism being a cancer" to spread propaganda.

The controversy stems from remarks made by Patwari in a video circulating on social media, where he urged party members to combat factionalism. "If we don’t eradicate this cancer of factionalism, it will destroy us,” he stated in the video.

Chief Minister Yadav responded by calling Patwari's statement a "new trend" in politics and questioned the Congress party's stance on internal divisions. Yadav challenged the Congress leadership to clarify who the "cancers" within their party are, referencing prominent figures like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge.

Patwari, in his rebuttal, deflected by highlighting alleged corruption scandals within the BJP government, specifically mentioning controversies surrounding an individual identified as Saurabh Sharma. He accused Sharma of being the "real cancer" for Madhya Pradesh and challenged CM Yadav to address allegations of corruption, including the contents of a "red diary" reportedly recovered from Sharma's residence during a raid.