JOIN US Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is facing heat over Vyapam scam, will now breathe easy with the BJP performing well in the civic elections.
The BJP fielded vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, and state unit chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan to stress that the mandate was a “tight slap” on the face of the Congress given that people continue to repose “faith” in the chief minister despite attempts made to drag him into the Vyapam scam.
Parliament’s monsoon session was wiped out owing to Congress-led opposition protest seeking resignation of Chouhan in Vyapam scam and Union minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje in Lalitgate.
Though the party has been defending him after finding nothing objections against him in scam official records, the opposition pressure had made Chouhan uncomfortable which was also seen in his body language and frequent visits to Delhi.
On Sunday, the BJP won eight out of 10 civic bodies elections, snatching five of the six held by Congress. The BJP pocketed Bhainsdehi, Chakghat, Kotara, Vidhisha, Harda and Suvasara local bodies while an Independent won the chairman’s post in Ghuwara and a Congress candidate won Sarangpur municipal body. Besides, BJP’s Ashok Argal, a former MP, won Morena municipal corporation mayor's post which has been traditionally a Congress bastion. Similarly, the ruling party’s Meena Jonwal was crowned with the Ujjain MC mayor’s post.
“The people of the country have punished the Congress for its politics of character assassination and the Congress could save its reputation in only Sarangpur. It got routed out from the rest of seats,” Sahasrabuddhe told reporters. He also argued that this is the “victory of development-oriented programs of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, good governance and the growth”.
Though the BJP has been winning civic body elections, the polls to the last 10 happened after the controversy over Vyapam scam owing to series of mysterious deaths. Member of Parliament Nandkumar Singh Chouhan claimed that never ever in the state’s electoral history Congress was reduced virtually to zero as it happened this time.