Even as the wait is on for the new BJP chief ministerial name in Madhya Pradesh, incumbent CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Chhindwara district on Wednesday and announced the launch of ‘Mission 29’ for Lok Sabha polls.
He said that work would start from Wednesday to ensure that the BJP wins all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh. In 2019, the saffron party had won all the seats except Chhindwara – the home borough of state Congress president Kamal Nath. Nath’s son Nakul is the current member of parliament of Chhindwara.
In the recent assembly polls, despite winning a landslide in the state, BJP lost all seven assembly segments in Chhindwara.
Addressing a ‘Ladli Behna’ and workers’ convention in Chhindwara city, Chouhan said that he was pledging a guarantee to undertake complete development of the constituency. This was the first visit of CM Chouhan to any city in the state after the massive BJP win.
Even as the other CM contenders – most of them members of parliament (five resigned this afternoon) —were in New Delhi where the parliament session is on, Chouhan, among the frontrunners of the CM post again, is engaging in interactive sessions with people. On Tuesday, he met ‘Ladli Behna’ beneficiaries in Bhopal and had food with them and visited a night shelter in the capital later in the night.
In Chhindwara, too, he credited the win to the development in states, schemes of central and state governments and dedicated it to the ‘Ladli Behnas’ (the beneficiaries of the scheme by the same name).
Chouhan announced that after Ladli Behna, the next mission is ‘Lakhpati Behna’, under which a minimum annual income of Rs 1 lakh will be ensured for poor and lower middle class women through self-help groups. He added that he would personally monitor such schemes to ensure their success.
“I will make this happen, I won’t rest unless this happens,” he announced. He also reiterated the promise of one income source for each family. This indicated that Chouhan was quite confident of holding on to the reins in the state.
Takes a dig on Kamal Nath
Taking a dig at Kamal Nath without naming him, Chouhan said that ‘dada ji’ (grandfather) did not move out of Chhindwara at all. “Mama (maternal uncle - as Chouhan is popularly called) was moving all around but dada was struck here. He was here morning and evening. Whenever anyone asked where he was – the answer was he was here (in Chhindwara). You tied him up here, so BJP won one-way in Madhya Pradesh.”
Chouhan added that he never visited Budhni (Chouhan’s constituency) during the polls. “The people there told me that they would make him win by over a lakh votes and asked me to form a government again in the state,” he said.
“I kept that promise and put 163 seats in the kitty of BJP”.
Has food at tribal worker’s home
Later, Chouhan also had food at the home of Mohan Marskole, a tribal worker of the party, who was also a polling booth president where the BJP won a lead. The gesture of Chouhan is seen as an attempt to energize the party workers for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
