Indore | Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh today said that the sobriquet, “Mr Bantadhar” (spoilsport), given to him by the BJP during the 2003 Madhya Pradesh Assembly poll campaign, did not “haunt” him.
When asked about the BJP resorting to the sobriquet once again in the run-up to the Assembly polls slated for later this year, Singh said, “This slogan doesn’t haunt me. Those using it are cowards and using abusive language is part of their character.”
Singh was chief minister of the state from December 1993 to December 2003.
“If Shivraj (Singh Chouhan) has courage, then he should debate with me on any public forum about the ten-year rule of the Congress and the 15 years of BJP rule,” Singh, currently chairman of the state Congress coordination committee, said.
“I was the chief minister of the state for 10 years but the BJP has not yet proved a single charge of corruption against me,” the senior Congress leader said.
He said, “BJP repeatedly said that the condition of roads, electricity and water supply in the state was poor during my tenure. But the foundation of the development, which is being seen today, was laid during the previous Congress government.”
He also targeted the MP CM’s “Jan Ashirwad Yatra”, which commenced from Ujjain on July 14.
He said, “Shivraj has been travelling on a Rs 2.5 crore Rath (chariot). BJP talks about Lord Rama. But they forget that Ravana was aboard a chariot while the army of Lord Rama was on foot.”
While blaming the state government for rising unemployment, poor water supply and the plight of farmers and labourers, Singh said, “The BJP government led by Shivraj doesn’t deserve blessings from the public.”
He alleged that power generation plants are being closed deliberately in MP so that electricity at higher rates could be purchased from private operators by indulging in massive corruption.
On the state’s electricity bill waiver plan, the former CM said that the state government should declare this program effective from December 2003 when the BJP came to power.
In addition, electricity charges collected from the poor in the last 15 years should be returned to them, he said.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
