Speaking in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh today, Prime Minister Modi said that the Congress government had turned the state into ‘bimaru rajya’. He took a dig at Congress, stating that the party has destroyed every state it has ruled, and it will do the same to Madhya Pradesh.
“The BJP has been ruling in Madhya Pradesh for over 20 years. The present youth of Madhya Pradesh are lucky that they have not witnessed the bad governance of the Congress government. After independence, Congress ruled Madhya Pradesh for a long time and made it a ‘bimaru rajya’. But we have brought it back to its feet,” PM Modi said while addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ in Bhopal on Monday.
PM Modi said BJP’s “double engine government” is working tirelessly so people of Madhya Pradesh don’t have to face the same days again.”For Madhya Pradesh, upcoming years are very crucial… If Congress — a dynasty party, a party full of corruption — gets a chance (to come to power), it will be a huge loss for the state,” PM Modi said.
He claimed to have freed around 13.5 crore people from poverty.
“BJP has managed to free 13.5 crore people from poverty. That is more than the population of Madhya Pradesh. It’s because Modi’s guarantees never go empty. We passed the reservation bill in the Lok Sabha for women, which was also part of the promise. With this bill, India has scripted history,” he said, emphasizing that under his regime, there’s a “guarantee for every guarantee”.
Speaking about the ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’, PM Modi said the response to the event shows what “people have on their minds”. “This shows the energy of the workers of the BJP… Madhya Pradesh is the heart of the country… People of the state have always supported BJP… The state is not only the ideology of BJP but also the central spot of development vision…” he said.
KARYAKARTA MAHAKUMBH
Organised on the birth anniversary of Jana Sangh co-founder Deendayal Upadhyaya, ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ at Bhopal’s Jamboree Maidan marked the formal culmination of the BJP’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’.
Marking PM Modi’s seventh visit to the state in the past six months, the event is estimated to have a footfall of one million people from across the state.
Before addressing the ‘Mahakumbh’, PM Modi embarked on a half-kilometer-long roadshow. A dedicated road has been constructed at the venue to facilitate this procession.
As per the programme schedule, Modi landed at the Bhopal airport at around 10:55 AM and flew to the Jamboree Maidan helipad in a chopper.
The event is being hailed as the party’s largest pre-election event. It will also mark the culmination of the Jan Ashirwad Yatras, which commenced from five different locations within the state. Party workers from all 230 assembly constituencies have been invited to the event.
BJP workers have erected five waterproof pandals at the Jamboree grounds, with the main pandal with a capacity of 60,000 people, placed directly in front of the PM’s stage.
Two additional domes have been constructed on either side of the main one, to facilitate seating arrangements for party workers. The entire area has been divided into 42 sectors, each with seating for 1,500 individuals.
PM MODI’S ROLE IN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN
Notably, the BJP has not yet announced a chief ministerial candidate for Madhya Pradesh. It is speculated that the party intends to contest the election with PM Modi at the forefront.
The party has adopted the slogan “MP ke man mein Modi and Modi ke man mein MP” as its election theme, underscoring the central role PM Modi will play in the state’s electoral campaign.
During his previous six visits to the state, Modi has covered 94 assembly seats across 22 districts, addressing a range of issues, from poverty and Dalits to tribal communities and Pasmanda Muslims. His speeches have also taken aim at various opposition parties, particularly the Congress, highlighting issues such as corruption, nepotism, and appeasement.
KAMALNATH’S DIG AT SHIVRAJ
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, took a dig at CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his “habit of lying” and urged him not to do so this time.
In a tweet posted early on Monday, Kamal Nath wrote, “Be patient today. Whenever the Prime Minister comes to Madhya Pradesh, you involve him in one or the other lie. Along with the people of Madhya Pradesh, the Prime Minister is also troubled by the double speed of your lie machine. That is why he has excluded you from the entire election campaign. You have become the first Chief Minister of the country who is the Chief Minister but is not the face of the Chief Minister.”
He further listed the incidents where Chouhan allegedly lied to the masses. “You told him in Rewa that the income of farmers has more than doubled, whereas in his NITI Aayog report, the income of farmers of Madhya Pradesh had decreased,” he wrote.
“In Bhopal, you gave him a wrong pamphlet and he told the price of petrol in Madhya Pradesh to be less than â¹ 100 a litre. He was thus framed in another lie. Your lies about gas cylinder prices have also hit the Prime Minister. You promise people a gas cylinder for Rs 450, but never give it. But when the Prime Minister says it will cost Rs 900, it makes him look bad,” he wrote.
“During the Prime Minister’s visit to Sagar district, you told him that the Congress government did not pay attention to Bundelkhand whereas the UPA government had given a special Bundelkhand package of Rs 7200 crore to the Bundelkhand region. Although your loyalty and dedication towards lies is well known, we hope that the people of Madhya Pradesh will not see any new lies today,” Kamal Nath concluded.
RAHUL GANDHI IN CHHATTISGARH
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will launch Mukhyamantri Gramin Awas Nyay Yojna (MGANY) in Bilaspur district today, ahead of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections due later this year.
At ‘Awas Nyay Sammelan’, Gandhi and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will disburse the first instalment of Rs 25,000 each to 1,30,000 beneficiaries for the construction of houses, officials said.
The event will be held at around 2 pm in Parsada (Sakri) village under the Takhatpur development block in Bilaspur district, a public relations department official said.
Gandhi and Baghel will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of the development and construction works worth Rs 524.33 crore in Bilaspur district and distribute appointment letters to 2,594 newly recruited teachers.
