BHOPAL: A day after former chief minister late Arjun Singh’s wife Saroj Singh filed a case of ill-treatment against her son and Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh, the latter on Wednesday issued a statement in which he said, “For my mother, I have a simple message. Free yourself from the clutches of people who tutor and terrorise you in the name of love and concern. Let us sit together and resolve matters without the indignity of a public trial.”Ajay Singh’s statement also said, “It is a sad day for any family when personal matters get dragged out into the open. Worse, when the enemy lurks within, and the motivation for the public posturing is purely political. My mother is old, not helpless and far from destitute. She has over the years, following my father’s demise, stubbornly refused my offer of a home with us in Bhopal .”Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Ajay Singh claimed that after the demise of his father and Congress leader Arjun Singh , he used to visit his mother once every month in New Delhi. “I have repeatedly asked her to come to Bhopal and stay with me. But she insisted on living in New Delhi. The accusation against me is that I evicted her from Kerwa Kothi. When she did not come to Kerwa Kothi, how could I evict her?” the LOP asked. “I stopped visiting her once she started living with my sister at her farm house in the Capital.”According to the LOP, after the demise of Arjun Singh, the deceased leader’s wife last visited Kerwa Kothi in December 2015. The occasion was marriage of Ajay Singh’s son and Bollywood star Arunoday Singh with his Canadian girlfriend Lee Elton.“I went to invite my mother for the wedding. At first, she refused to come objecting that her grandson was tying the knot with a foreigner girl. I told her times have changed but she remained adamant. Then on the day of the wedding, I got a call that she was coming for the reception. She came to Kerwa Kothi and blessed the couple and went back the next day,” Ajay Singh recalled.In the statement, Ajay Singh said that instead of coming to live with him in Bhopal, the octogenarian Saroj Singh chose “to become a puppet in the hands of unscrupulous elements within the family.” He alleged, “They (unscrupulous elements) have proceeded to foment trouble, and widen the rift, to the extent that it is no longer possible for me to have her in my house with my sister, without jeopardising the sanctity of my home.”He argued in the statement that even when she started residing with Veena Singh, “I made several attempts to reach out to her and offer any assistance she might require, only to be rebuffed with stony silence and refusal to sort out contentious issues amicably and without third party intervention. Out of respect for the memory of my departed father, the legacy he so painstakingly created, I shall refrain from elaborating any further.”Ajay Singh claimed, “The matter has now reached court. The allegations made against me are all pernicious fabrications. Time will reveal the truth and settle this issue once and for all.”

Stay updated with all the Bhopal Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.