Bhopal, The BJP will hold a ‘Congress Bhagao, Pradesh Bachao’ campaign across Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday. As part of the agitation the party will hold a ‘Ghanta Naad Andolan’ (tolling of the bells) drive against the state government for public awareness against its failures through the past eight months since the BJPs defeat in the assembly elections.
The Opposition obviously wants to cash in on the spurt in factional skirmishes among Congress leaders that have distracted chief minister Kamal Nath’s administration. Kamal Nath who heads the party and the government has been shuttling between Delhi and Bhopal after clashes between former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and some ministers. Though the matter has been referred to the disciplinary committee, there is an uneasy calm as diverse factions are exerting pressure on the leadership.
The issue is the replacement of Kamal Nath as PCC chief. He has resigned from the post but has been told to continue till his replacement is found. While one faction would want former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to be made the PCC chief both Kamal Nath and Digvijaya are resisting the move. Kamal Nath’s other headache is Digvijaya Singh growing hunger for limelight. He has been selectively leaking his observations about the ministries in public and trying to intimidate them.
“Under the one-day demonstration – Ghantanaad, we will ring “bells” on the roads to wake up the Congress government in MP which was in a slumber,” BJP chief spokesman Deepak Vijayvargiya said.
“We are going to take out rallies (morchas) at all district headquarters and submit memoranda to collectors addressed to the state government seeking to wake it up from slumber,” he added. He said that Nath’s government has turned a blind eye to corruption, which has flourished. The welfare schemes, especially for poor and farmers have been shelved, he said.
“The Congress state satraps are fighting to ensure that their camps grab state party head’s post,” he added. “As a result there is no worthwhile development taking place in the state,” Vijayvargiya added.
The infighting in the Congress has cheered the BJP which was humiliated during the monsoon session of the assembly after two of its MLAs crossed the floor and voted a Congress sponsored bill in the budget session of state assembly on July 24.
The Congress has decided to counter the agitation by organising programmes that compare the quality of the eight-month administration with the 15-year rule of the BJP. The Congress party and the Kamal Nath administration are going an extra mile to project the 100 decisions taken during the past eight months. The loan waivers for farmers and other welfare measures are the focal issues of the booklet to be released soon. The party and the government will also hold “Janata Durbar” (public hearing) in all the 52 districts of the state.
In an interesting aside the chief minister said the drought has ended and all will be well soon. The quip apparently targeted former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who had once said the nature was also ashamed of the Congress rule and the long dry spell was a proof. The past one month most districts have received excess rains.
