Kamal Nath writes 'open letter' to Lord Shiva

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath has written an 'open letter' to Lord Shiva, seeking his blessings for the people to end the BJP's "misrule" in the state, which goes to polls later this year.

In the letter, released to the media on Friday, Nath urged Lord Mahakaleshwar, a form of Lord Shiva, to bless the people of Madhya Pradesh so that they vote out the BJP and end the nearly 15-year-old "misrule" of the saffron party.

The Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain is the site of one of the 12 'jyotirlingas' (shrines considered to be the most sacred abodes of Lord Shiva) in the country.

Nath alleged that under the BJP rule, farmers in Madhya Pradesh are committing suicide, girls are being raped, corruption is increasing and youths are unemployed.

Promises made by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have remained unfulfilled and the time has come for him to pay for his "misdeeds", the state Congress chief claimed.

The main opposition party today announced a public awareness campaign which will follow the route to be taken by the chief minister during his state-wide "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" that begins from Ujjain tomorrow.

Chouhan will embark on the yatra to "seek blessings" of the people. It will be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah who will address a public meeting on the occasion.

The Congress said its awareness campaign will highlight the "failures" of Chouhan and his government and will pass through the Assembly segments to be covered by Chouhan during his yatra.

"The Congress will launch an awareness campaign from Tarana, Ujjain district, on July 18. Kamal Nath will launch this 'jan jagran abhiyan' (public awareness campaign), which would track the route of Chouhan's Jan Ashirwad Yatra," Jitu Patwari, the working president of the state Congress said.

"We will expose the failures of the 15-year-long BJP government during the campaign. The state's debt burden has gone up to Rs 1.90 lakh crore. Over 90 percent of farmers are unable to repay their debt and are forced to commit suicide. Several scams took place in the state in the last 15 years," he said.

Patwari alleged that the BJP has deceived the people of the state and the chief minister made false promises to them.

"In reply to one of my questions in the Assembly, the government had said over 4,500 promises of the chief minister were not fulfilled. After making false promises, they are taking out yatra on an expensive chariot," said Patwari, who is also an MLA from Rau in Indore district.

Reacting to the Congress' decision to launch the awareness campaign, state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said, "The Congress has failed on every front, including its role as the opposition party. Shivraj Singh is a popular leader under whose leadership the BJP government has ensured all-round development of the state."

"The Congress has no leader who has wide public acceptance like Shivraj ji. The party is resorting to gimmicks," he said.

About Nath's "open letter", the BJP leader said Lord Mahakaleshwar knows everything and there was no need for the state Congress president to write a letter to the deity.