BJP threats to bureaucracy in Madhya Pradesh

As polling draws closer, top BJP leaders are raising the spectre of imminent collapse of the Kamal Nath government soon after the Lok Sabha election to hold out an open threat to the bureaucracy.

State BJP president Rakesh Singh on Saturday warned the chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP) of dire consequences if they acted against party workers under directions of the “unstable” Congress government.

Singh, who is contesting the Jabalpur seat, held out the threat following detention of a BJP worker by the police in Gohalpur police station in the city for violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Singh had gone to police station to get the worker released.

In similar vein, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan threatened the Chhindwara collector for denying him permission to land the BJP leader’s chopper after 5 pm two days ago.

Using derogatory language from an election podium, Chouhan dubbed the collector ‘a stooge’ while warning the officer that “ we will be back soon”. Later, the Election Commission got the incident probed and found that the collector had followed the rules while the former CM had used foul language.

The Madhya Pradesh IAS officers’ association also condemned the Chouhan’s offensive language.

Leader of the Opposition Gopal Bhargava has held out a threat to the bureaucrats repeatedly ‘to behave’ stating that the days of the Kamal Nath government are numbered. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has also assured party workers several times not to lose heart in the face of police action against them, as the Congress government in the state is bound to fall after the NDA government returned to power at the Centre.

Soon after the BJP lost power in the state, party leaders have been trying to create an impression among the cadre, either through dog whistles or threat to the bureaucrats that the re-election of the Modi government will spell doom for the four-month-old Kamal Nath government. Their tone has become more strident as election campaign has intensified.

The Congress has strongly opposed what it calls the BJP’s immoral and unconstitutional tactics to destabilise the democratically-elected government. Chief Minister Kamal Nath has dismissed the BJP’s desire to see the fall of his government, calling it "daydreaming"

The bureaucracy, however, is demoralised over the constant threats from the BJP leadership. “It seems the defeat in the assembly election has not sunk into the BJP leaders, particularly Shivraj Singh Chouhan," a senior IAS officer quipped.