Digvijaya Singh announced on Tuesday, 13th January, that he would not seek another term in the Rajya Sabha. The decision, he said, is in line with the Congress party’s effort to promote younger leadership in Madhya Pradesh.
Soon after the announcement, Pradeep Ahirwar, the state Congress president for the Scheduled Caste wing, appealed to Singh to ensure that a Dalit leader is sent to the Rajya Sabha this time. Quoting Singh’s earlier statement that he would be happy to see a person from the SC community become Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh someday, Ahirwar said the state’s nearly 17% Scheduled Caste population deserved representation in the Upper House.
When asked about this request, Singh said the decision was not in his hands. “I can only say this much, that I am vacating my seat,” he said.
🚨 MP | Congress SC Dept President Pradeep Ahirwar urges that the Rajya Sabha seat be given to an SC member.
— The News Drill (@thenewsdrill) January 13, 2026
Responding, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh says, “This is not in my hands. I’m only vacating my Rajya Sabha seat. pic.twitter.com/EaxRzsMDAO
A senior Congress leader familiar with internal discussions said the move aligns with Rahul Gandhi’s broader plan to rebuild the party by empowering younger leaders. According to him, Singh will now focus more on strengthening the party at the grassroots level and may also undertake another Narmada Parikrama to energise young Congress workers ahead of elections.
Part of Congress’s organisational revamp
The development is part of the Congress’s broader “Sangathan Srijan” initiative, aimed at organisational strengthening. Under this strategy, senior leaders with strong grassroots experience are being redeployed for organisational work, while younger leaders are being given more visibility and responsibility within the party structure.
His RSS remarks from December
Last month, on 27th December, Singh drew attention when he posted on X praising the organisational strength of the BJP and RSS. Sharing an old photograph of Narendra Modi, he spoke about how a grassroots worker rose through the ranks to become Chief Minister and later Prime Minister by learning from senior leaders.
The remarks triggered strong reactions, following which Singh clarified that he was only talking about organisational strength and discipline. He later said he remains a strong critic of the RSS ideology, the BJP, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies. BJP had stated that Digvijay Singh’s statement is a mark of dissent in the Congress party and how the Gandhi family’s leadership has failed to let grassroot level party workers rise in the party.
However, his past continues to resurface in political debates. Singh was present at the 2010 launch of a book titled 26/11 RSS Ki Saazish?, written by journalist Aziz Burney, which accused the RSS of conspiring in the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
