Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia have hit the Gwalior-Chambal region with a bagful of sops to woo voters ahead of the bypolls to 27 assembly seats.
They are accompanied by Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and will be covering 13 constituencies in four days in the region where 16 seats will be up for bypolls.
They will be dedicating several completed developmental works, laying foundation stones of new ones worth crores of rupees and making additional announcements for the areas.
In Dimni of Morena where the tour of the leaders started on Thursday, establishment of a new college was announced and developmental workers worth Rs 88 crore were dedicated or foundation stones were laid.
Later in the day, the leaders covered Ambah (Porsa) in Morena and Mehgaon in Bhind.
Apart from announcing and highlighting the government initiatives, Chouhan kept up his tirade against former chief minister Kamal Nath and his government, calling it “corrupt.” He said Kamal Nath had no time to meet public representatives from Gwalior-Chambal region but his doors were always open to middlemen and brokers.
Scindia used his personal appeal with the voters, reiterating that he had decided to oust the Congress government because of its corruption and failure to keep promises. “Every drop of my blood is dedicated to safeguarding the aspirations and hopes of the people. I have no attractions for a post or power,” Scindia reiterated in Mehgaon.
Scindia, who left Congress to join BJP with 22 loyalist former MLAs in March causing collapse of Kamal Nath government, is the key element in the bypolls in Gwalior-Chambal region. He is therefore putting his best foot forward to ensure that his supporters, who will be contesting the polls on BJP tickets now, do win.
The BJP plans to use the power of the government and the appeal of mass leaders like Scindia and Chouhan to make a mark afresh in the region. During the 2018 assembly polls, Congress had won a sizable majority in the region, giving a massive setback to the BJP. However, this win of Congress was always attributed to Scindia.
The scion of Gwalior royal family, who had lost his Lok Sabha seat with a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes in the 2019 elections, has his prestige at stake in the region. The BJP, of course, has the fate of the Shivraj Singh government at stake.
On Friday, they will cover Pohri and Karera in Shivpuri district and Dabra and Gwalior proper in Gwalior district.
On Saturday, the leaders will be at Morena proper, Chhaira (Sumaoli) and Kailaras of Morena district and Gwalior East of Gwalior district. On the next day, they will cover Bhander and Gohad of Bhind district.
Meanwhile, on the first day of the tour, the BJP leaders also faced protest from local Congress workers in Mehgaon and Dimni. The protesters carried black flags and banners, calling Scindia a 'betrayer'. In both places these Congress workers were arrested.
