Ahead of polls, BJP targets Digvijay Singh

The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh is gearing up to fight the upcoming assembly elections on development plank and is also alleging "misrule" by the Congress when it was in power in the state for 10 years.

However, the main opposition party has pooh-poohed the development claims of the BJP and maintained "winds of change" are blowing in the state, where the saffron outfit is in power since 2003.

The BJP is specifically targeting senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who headed the party government from 1993 to 2003, reminding people about the days when Madhya Pradesh was regarded as a "BIMARU" (laggard) state.

The BJP has brought out a lot of written material, including two booklets, to underline its development credentials and list welfare programmes launched by the government in the last 15 years.

The two booklets are titled "Dabe Nahin Pramaan" (proof can't be suppressed) and "15 Saal Vikas Ke, Jan-Jan Ke Vishwas Ke" (15 years of development).

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who embarked on his 73-day long `Jan Ashirwad Yatra' from Ujjain on July 14, has often targeted Singh.

Addressing a press conference at Panna on July 26, Chouhan attacked Singh for once addressing slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden as "Osama-ji".

"Those who have remarked against martyred police official Mahesh Chandra Sharma (during the 2008 Batla House encounter) and termed dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden as Osamaji should think on their own that who is a patriot and who is a terrorist," the CM had said.

Speaking last week in Satna district, Chouhan had sought to know if adding the honorific `Ji' for a terrorist was not an "anti-national" act.

Singh, apparently responding to Chouhan's "anti- national" jibe, had on July 26 presented himself before the police here and dared them to arrest him.

The police, however, told the 71-year-old former chief minister that he could not be arrested as there was no case registered against him.

Madhya Pradesh BJP IT Cell in-charge Shivraj Singh Dabi said the 10-year-long Digvijay government had brought "ruination" to the state, while the BJP put it on the path of development.

"The people of the state have not yet forgotten the misrule of Digvijay," Dabi said, adding Chouhan has got Madhya Pradesh rid of the "BIMARU" tag.

"The BJP government has provided ample electricity, roads and other facilities to the people in last 15 years," said another party leader.

Newly-appointed state Congress media department vice- president Bhupendra Gupta said, however, has dismissed the BJP's development claims.

"The BJP has not done anything worthwhile in the state in its 15 years of rule. It is facing strong anti-incumbency sentiments and winds of change are blowing across Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Gupta said the ruling party has hardly done anything for the people and maintained that a large number of farmers have committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh under the BJP rule.

The BJP is deliberately trying to project that the Congress is a faction-ridden party, but this notion is totally wrong, he said.

"It (the BJP) wants to divert the people's mind from core issues like unemployment. It won't succeed in its design," he added.

"There are no differences in the party. Kamal Nath ji (MP Congress chief), Scindia ji (Jyotiraditya Scindia) and Digvijay ji are united in their fight against the BJP," Gupta said.

In April this year, Scindia, the Lok Sabha MP from Guna, was appointed the MP Congress Election Campaign Committee Chairman. Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh are due by the year-end.