Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday prepared the stage for his Jan Ashirvad Yatra beginning from Ujjain on Monday by taking the Congress head on with the assertion that he is being singled out and targeted ahead of the November Assembly election since the Congress is frustrated and lacks issues to corner the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mr Chouhan was addressing a press conference at his residence here on Sunday afternoon. He said that the Congress is a national party but it refuses to talk on issues concerning the common people.
He drew attention towards top Congress leaders, including party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, saying even they prefer to remain silent on important issues. The Congress stands no chance when it comes to the policies, programmes and their implementation by the state BJP Government, he said adding since they do not have anything to say, they find “Shivraj Singh as the biggest thorn in their way.”
Mr Chouhan said that during the last Assembly election, the Congress had raised the dumper issue and now they are alleging that a warehouse has been built (by his wife at Vidisha) without permission. He is confident that the voters will give a befitting reply in regard, the chief minister said.
Mr Chouhan said that the BJP vision is to build a state which is much different from what the Congress had left behind in 2003. Spelling out his guiding spirit, he said people of Madhya Pradesh can compare the Congress with the BJP by answering the following: “what we were, what we are and where shall we be” in the context of power supply, water, roads, industrial and rural development and all-round growth.
The chief minister praised the film Bhag Milkha Bhag saying it is packed with the spirit of nationalism. He also announced the decision to exempt it from entertainment tax.
On rising incidents of acid attacks in the state, Mr Chouhan said that he has issued instructions to control its sale. The Supreme Court instructions in this regard are awaited, he said adding instructions have already been issued to try acid throwing cases under Section 307 IPC.