Riding on a statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhopal on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seems to have decided to aggressively go after the opposition Congress on its poll guarantees.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress has announced poll guarantees like Rs 1,000 per month cash assistance to women, domestic gas cylinder for Rs 500, 100 units power free and 200 units at half rate, resuming loan waiver for farmers, revival of old pension scheme, 27 per cent reservation to OBC communities and employment to youth.
PM Modi, during his address to BJP booth workers, without naming Congress, said that if ‘they’ had offered some guarantees, he would also like to give a guarantee. “If they offer a guarantee of scams, then Modi also has a guarantee... My guarantee is, guarantee of action against every scamster, guarantee of action against every thief and robber. Those who have looted the poor, who have looted the country, their account will be settled,” the PM had said.
Taking it up from there, CM Chouhan has started attacking the Congress aggressively. On Wednesday, he issued a statement saying that the guarantee of Congress is guarantee of lies. “When did the Congress speak of eradicating poverty (Garibi Hatao)? (Ex-prime minister) Indira (Gandhi) ji had given the slogan in 1971. Was poverty eradicated? They only speak lies and that too openly. Did they waive loans of farmers in 10 days? Rahul (Gandhi) ji should answer; did they give unemployment allowance, waive loans of self-help groups or give bonus on crops? Which of their vachan (poll promises) did they fulfill? Now they have again come up with guarantees. The truth is that their guarantee is the guarantee of corruption; of insulting women; of cheating the youth; of hoodwinking the farmers and the guarantee of betrayal. But those giving such guarantees have already lost the respect of the people.”
He also said that as promised by PM Modi, no scammers or wrongdoers would be spared in Madhya Pradesh or any BJP ruled state. “Modi ji has resolved not to spare any corrupt person. All these scammers have come together (referring to opposition unity moves) out of fear of action. They have no common agenda, no common ideology or programme. In different states, they are fighting, cutting each other's throats. But these opposing forces, ideological enemies have come together due to fear of action, but Modi ji won’t spare any wrongdoer.
Earlier on Tuesday evening too, Chouhan had tweeted to say that the five guarantees of ‘illusionist’ Congress are the guarantees of insulting women; corruption; power failure and inverter; religious conversion and appeasement and guarantee of promoting seditious forces.
Retorting in a long tweet, Kamal Nath said, “Shivraj ji, your government has itself accepted in the state assembly that the Congress government had waived the loans of 27 lakh farmers; even the loan of family of the present agriculture minister has been waived off. Despite this, you start lying at any given chance. Aren’t you ashamed of lying like this in public? You have also said that no scammers will be spared, so the people of Madhya Pradesh want to know that since dumper scam, Vyapam scam, nutritious food scam, police recruitment scam, nursing college scam and e-tendering scam happened during your tenure as CM; do you plan to catch or give protection to the scammers?
Priyanka Gandhi's jibe on price rise
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took a jibe at PM Modi’s comment in Bhopal about prices of domestic gas cylinders in non-BJP ruled state; the fact that Modi had omitted name of Madhya Pradesh where petrol price was well over Rs 100 mark and the rise of prices of essential commodities through a tweet. “The Prime Minister read the list of inflation in Bhopal yesterday. But like the earlier lists, someone made that list wrong too. In Madhya Pradesh petrol price: Rs 108 a litre Tomato price: Rs 100 a kg Price of pulses: Rs 150 per kg and domestic cylinder: Rs 1130 per cylinder. This model of diverting the attention of the people from the price hike they are facing - neither did it work in Himachal (Pradesh) and Karnataka, nor will it work in Madhya Pradesh,” she said.
In a joint press conference, MP Mahila Congress chief Vibha Patel and media department chief K.K. Mishra, also attacked the BJP government at Centre and state over steep hike in prices of essentials. They also pointed out that the Madhya Pradesh BJP unit unashamedly made the PM speak lies about petrol being available below Rs 100 per litre in BJP-ruled states, when it cost Rs 108 per litre in the state.
