The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, which is on a spree of offering various sops to the people, seems to have fallen back again onto the idea of creating newer, smaller districts in the poll year to please the voters.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the intent to create the 55th district of the state by carving out Pandhurna from Chhindwara district, the home turf of ex-chief minister and state Congress chief Kamal Nath. This is the third new district announced by Chouhan this year.
A new district means a lot of new facilities to a particular region and a more accessible district-level administration. People often demand the creation of a new district when they feel that their region is neglected administratively in the present one. Announcing a new district in election year therefore amounts to fulfilling the aspirations of the voters.
Hanuman Lok foundation laid
The announcement of the CM for the 55th new district came at Jam Sawli in Sausar of Chhindwara, where he conducted the foundation stone laying ceremony for the ‘Shri Hanuman Lok’ project around the famous Hanuman temple in the village. The project will come up at the cost of Rs 314 crore on a 26.50-acre area. The first phase of the project will be done at the cost of Rs 35 crore.
Chouhan said on the occasion that the Hanuman Lok is to be created in Jam Sawli with the blessings of Lord Ram. “It is my belief that like the Mahakal Lok (in Ujjain), the Hanuman Lok will also emerge as a centre of faith for crores of devotees,” he said.
The Hanuman temple in Simariya near Chhindwara town, famous for its 101-feet high Lord Hanuman idol, was constructed by Kamal Nath. The temple was in limelight recently as a 'Ram Katha' by popular preacher Dhirendra Shastri of Bagheshwar Dhan was hosted there by the Nath family.
The move of the BJP government to create a Hanuman Lok in another part of the district is being looked upon as counter-action.
At the same event, the CM went on to announce that a new district Pandhurna will be created by combining three tehsils – Pandhurna, Sausar, and Nandanwadi – currently in Chhindwara district.
Chouhan also conducted a road show in Chhindwara and participated in a ‘Ladli Behna and Rozgar Diwas (employment day)’ event where he laid the foundation stone for development works worth Rs 1,178.54 crore and inaugurated works worth Rs 258.75 crore. He also announced the establishment of a college and an auditorium in Chhindwara on the occasion.
New districts ahead of polls a trend
Once created, Pandhurna will be the 55th in the state and the third new district to be announced/created this year. Mauganj, earlier a part of Rewa district came into existence as the 53rd district of the state on August 15, following CM's announcement in this regard in March this year. The CM in July had announced Nagda to be culled out of Ujjain as the 54th district of the state.
Also, Chouhan announced in Picchore, Shivpuri on August 22 that if the people there voted for Pritam Lodhi, the BJP candidate and made him MLA, Picchore will be elevated to a district status. “You fulfil a promise to me (to make Lodhi MLA) and I will fulfil a promise to you,” he had said.
In the past two decades of BJP rule, seven new districts have been created in the state and two are in the pipeline. When Madhya Pradesh was separated from Chhattisgarh, the state had 45 districts. BJP chief ministerial face in 2003 polls, Uma Bharti, who went on the become CM too, had promised three new districts and later the government created Burhanpur out of Khandwa, Ashoknagar out of Guna and Anuppur out of Shahdol districts to take the tally to 48.
CM Chouhan had announced two new districts ahead of 2008 polls--Singrauli came into existence out of Sidhi and Alirajpur was separated from Jhabua--taking the total number of districts to 50. Similarly, Agar Malwa district was carved out of Shajapur ahead of the 2013 polls, while Niwari, earlier a part of Tikamgarh, got the elevated status in the run-up to the 2018 polls.
So this year, the BJP government led by Chouhan has already touched the tally of new districts it promised in 2003 and political watchers do not rule out the likelihood of one or two more such announcements in the coming days.
Meanwhile, after the Picchore promise of the CM, leader of opposition Govind Singh had written to the Election Commission to ask the government to stop making new announcements as the ruling party has already announced its first list of MLA candidates, thus bringing into force the model code of conduct in a way. “Any announcements at such time should be considered inducement of the voters,” Singh said.