BHOPAL: Entire central leadership of BJP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi is paying special attention to Madhya Pradesh. In the span of one month Narendra Modi has visited Madhya Pradesh twice. One of the visits included tribal areas of the state. It may be mentioned here that Madhya Pradesh has the highest concentration of tribals. That explains the reason of special attention PM is paying to tribals.
While Modi paid extensive visit to tribal region of Mahakaushal, BJP national president J. P. Nadda chose to visit tribal area of Madhya Bharat. Mahakaushal is crucial because Congress had won 24 of 38 assembly seats in the region in 2018 assembly polls while . BJP won 13.. Also, Congress swept 11 of the 13 tribal reserved seats here. And this is where Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had launched the Congress 2023 campaign on June 12 and announced five poll guarantees, including free power and Rs. 1,500 a month for women.
PM Modi chose to attack the Congress guarantees at a public meeting of tribals in Lalpur in Shahdol district on Saturday. “When they give you the guarantee of free electricity know that they will increase the power tariff. When they give the guarantee for free travel, then understand that the entire transportation system will be destroyed” the PM said.
He alleged that the Congress ‘guarantee of increased pension means that employees of the state will not even get their salaries on time and guarantee of cheap petrol would mean higher taxes on the common man. When they guarantee generation of jobs, it means they are planning to destroy Industries. Congress jaisi party jab guarantee lekar aati hain, uska matlab niyat mein khot aur garib par chot (When a party like Congress brings guarantees, it means a flaw in the intention and an attack on the poor)” the PM argued.
PM Modi was in Bhopal on June 22 to interact with BJP booth-level workers and was also scheduled to be in Shahdol that day, but bad weather forced a postponement.
On Saturday PM Modi’s speech marked the conclusion of the five “Verangana Rani Durgavati Gaurav Yatras’ – a BJP campaign to pay homage to the Gond queen in the tribal-dominated districts of Mahakaushal and Vindhya regions. He also distributed over 1 crore Ayushman cards in the state and launched the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM).
“The government aims to eradicate sickle cell anaemia from India in a mission mode by 2047” Modi said adding that India has 50% of sickle cell anaemia patients in the world. The PM distributed colour-coded counselling cards to some beneficiaries, unveiled a portal for NSCAEM and released a guideline for management of the disease.
Madhya Pradesh has more than 2 crore tribal voters and 47 tribal reserved seats. Additionally, there are at least 80 more assembly constituencies where tribals can make a difference. In 2018 the Congress won 31 (66%) of these seats and this was a major factor in BJP’s defeat. The saffron camp doesn’t want a repeat.
On Saturday PM Modi recounted the difference his government has made for the tribal population. In 70 years Congress could not give a guarantee to feed the poor. But this Prime Minister (Modi) has given guarantee of free rations to more than 80 crore people. In 70 years they could not give the guarantee to free the poor from expensive medical treatment but through Ayushman Yojana, 50 crore people have got the guarantee of health insurance” the PM said.
While BJP was trying to lure tribals, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal chose Gwalior region to launch blistering attack on both the BJP and Congress. Gwalior is the area where Jyotiraditya Scindia wield considerable influence. Addressing a mammoth crowd which came to listen him he appealed “Give one chance to Aam Aadmi Party. He said I want to assure that you will forget this ‘mama’ and his disciples. Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Maan, state president of AAP Rani Agarwal were also present on the occasion.
Urging the people to give AAP a chance, Kejriwal said, “People of Delhi and Punjab have already got rid of Congress and BJP. Today when I was coming here someone asked where are you going. I said I am going to Madhya Pradesh then I was told okay Madhya Pradesh where VYAPAM scam took place. Think how these parties and leaders have maligned Madhya Pradesh. People of Madhya Pradesh are hardworking, honest and patriots, but today Madhya Pradesh is discussed al over the country as the state where VYAPAM scam took place. It’s not your fault but leaders of Madhya Pradesh have brought a bad name to the state’.
Kejriwal also shared a story with the audience with the title “Chauthi Pass Raja” (fourth pass king).He said “Some people of Madhya Pradesh told me that power is very costly here. You will be astonished to know that it is free in Delhi…I came to know that there are power cuts of 8-10 hours in Madhya Pradesh and people pay Rs. 2000 for 200 units of consumption. What will a common man earn and what will he eat.”
Speaking on the occasion Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said, “I only want to say that we are not those who will be scared…tis ‘jhadu’ (broom) is used for cleaning political dirt”. What surprised everyone was the unusual large crowd which came to attend the public meeting addressed by AAP leaders. (IPA Service)
By L S Herdenia