With the assembly polls looming, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is currently on a month-long intensive tour of the state laying foundation stones and inaugurating development works worth over Rs two lakh crores in around 25 districts.
Along with the developmental works, the chief minister is also holding road shows, spending nights at district places and holding conventions of beneficiaries of different government schemes, mainly the women, youth and tribal people.
The month-long initiative that started on July 16 has been named ‘Vikas Parva’ (development festival) and is clearly a pre-poll mass contact initiative of Chouhan, political watchers say. The initiative will continue till August 14.
The chief minister, known for his personal bonding with people and huge energy, has been active on the ground for the last about one year, holding a series of public conventions across the state.
They key among them were ‘Laadli Behna Sammelan’ – where Chouhan interacted with women and highlighted the benefits of the cash assistance scheme of Rs 1000 per month, and the ‘PESA Sammelan’ – wherein the implementation of the PESA (Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act was highlighted to the tribal people.
But with the assembly polls coming closer, the chief minister has decided on another round of mass contact through government programmes in the form of the 'Vikas Parva'. This precedes the proposed ‘Jan Ashirwad’ (people’s blessings) tour of the ruling BJP in September, though different senior leaders are expected to lead this tour from different parts of state along with Chouhan.
Sources said that the CM’s mass contact initiative comes on the backdrop of reports that anti-incumbency was high in the state and people were upset. Through the ‘Vikas Parva’, the CM is trying to fulfill several demands of the people to blunt the outrage. In this series, he announced the creation of the 54th district of the state in Nagda of Ujjain on July 21. Ujjain is a key district in the Malwa region that is considered a BJP stronghold and the ruling party will want to keep people here in good humour.
Foundation stones laid for Rs 1245 crore worth projects at Neemuch
On Monday, the chief minister laid foundation stones for 13 development works worth Rs 1,245 crores in Manasa of Neemuch district under the Vikas Parva. He also inaugurated works worth Rs 36.76 crores.
Speaking on the occasion at a women’s convention, Chouhan attacked the opposition Congress saying that the party only deceived the people. In Neemuch, the Congress government never thought of providing water from Gandhi Sagar dam to the farmers. In 2018, when Kamal Nath became the chief minister, he failed to waive farm loans as promised and rather put a burden of interest on the pending loans on the farmers.
He said that the Rampur Manasa Micro-irrigation project, the foundation stone for which was laid on Monday, will be so beneficial to the farmers of Neemuch that they will leave behind the farmers of Punjab (in productivity).
He highlighted the schemes made by the BJP government for the women including the flagship Ladli Laxmi scheme and the Ladli Behna scheme. He reiterated that the monthly cash assistance under the scheme will soon be increased to Rs 3,000.
