While Madhya Pradesh ministers and Congress office-bearers conducted press conferences to highlight the major achievements of government’s six months in office, Chief Minister Kamal Nath chose not to interact directly with the media. Rather, he came up with a poetic blogpost, comparing the Congress government's work to the BJP’s as "monsoon relief after a severe and painful summer of 15 years".
At press conferences held in almost all districts by ministers and Congress office-bearers, a compilation of 62 achievements—with string of figures—was released to the media.
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The chief minister’s blog meanwhile mentioned achievements in various sectors, highlighting the claim that the Congress inherited a completely bankrupt state, staggering under several problems related to public welfare.
The BJP launched a frontal attack on the government, saying that its biggest achievement was to survive for six months and bring back anarchy to the state.
“The severe summer burnt everything—from economy, good governance, women’s dignity, life of farmers, employment for youth, self-respect for dalits and tribals. The state faced a revenue deficit of Rs 8000 crore, was under debt of Rs 1.87 lakh crore, investments had fallen flat, 46,000 daughters lost their honour, 48 lakh children became malnourished, and farmers got bullets against the price for crops and future of the youth was sold through Vyapam,” the chief minister wrote in his blog.
The weather is changing now, bringing monsoon-like relief, the blog said, listing achievements like farm loan waiver, halved power bills for farmers, reducing graph of crime, hike in support for girls’ marriage scheme, initiation of right to water, new investments, 70 per cent employment for local youth in industries, 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and so on.
The CM’s blog specifically mentioned that increase in power consumption was a sign of prosperity of state. There was a jump of 16-48 per cent in the past six months.
BJP leaders, however, attacked the government and even questioned the failure of Kamal Nath to appear before the media on the occasion. Former minister Narottam Mishra said that the biggest achievement that the government could boast of was to survive for six months and bring back anarchy. “The chief minister is a man of corporate culture and hardly knows the woes of the common people. He has brought about changes according to his outlook, pushing the state back to dacoit era. There has been a rise in rape cases, increase in power cuts, and drinking water crisis. We feel sorry about the situation that the state has been pushed to in these six months,” Mishra said. He added that even the promise of farm loan waiver—highlighted by Congress president Rahul Gandhi—was not fulfilled.
