22,000 announcements, 21 jobs’ by BJP govt: Priyanka Gandhi launches Cong’s MP poll campaign

Religious iconography adorns Jabalpur rally; Priyanka invokes family, Kamal Nath religion in attack on Shivraj Singh Chouhan regime

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being welcomed by MPCC President Kamal Nath during a public meeting, in Jabalpur. (PTI)

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CONGRESS leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sounded the party’s poll bugle in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, with an aarti along the banks of the Narmada followed by a rally where she attacked the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government over a range of issues, from scams to unemployment.

In line with the aggressive courting of the Hindutva vote by Congress leader and potential chief minister face Kamal Nath, the Jabalpur rally started with prayers while the venue was adorned with religious iconography related to Lord Hanuman, from giant gadhas (maces) erected at the site to performers dressed up as Hanuman.

Accusing the BJP government in the state of running a “rishvat raj (bribery raj)” in the state, Priyanka said people needed to vote it out for their future. “If you want to get a job or small work done, you have to give a bribe… There is scam after scam in Madhya Pradesh, ration scam, scholarship scam, Vyapam scam, recruitment for police scam, electricity department scam, Covid scam, e-tender scam… It’s such a big list of scams, it’s bigger than (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji’s list of insults,” she said.

Talking of unemployment in Madhya Pradesh, Priyanka claimed that the Chouhan government had given only 21 government jobs in the state in the last three years, saying she was herself surprised by this. “I got it checked three times from my office, and found this was a fact.”

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Urging people to look at government record in states where the Congress was in power, she said her party government would deliver on the promises Kamal Nath has already unveiled – of Rs 1,500 monthly payment for women, provision of gas cylinders for Rs 500, free 100 units of electricity and slashing of electricity bills by half for 200 units, introduction of the old pension scheme, and loan waivers for farmers.

Several of these promises the Congress has successfully offered in recent elections.

The Congress leader warned people against falling for the BJP’s “false” promises, dubbing Chief Minister Chouhan a “ghoshna veer (an announcement king)”. “He has made 22,000 announcements in all these years. If he had only given 22,000 jobs, it would have benefited him… Of all his announcements, only 1% have been fulfilled,” she said.

Among the Chouhan government schemes Priyanka targeted was the Ladli Behana Yojana launched on Sunday, under which Rs 1,000 each was transferred into the bank accounts of 1.25 crore women. Why was this being done now, six months before the elections, she asked. “You have been running the government for three years, why didn’t you make this announcement before?”

Priyanka also brought up the collapse of idols in the Ujjain Mahakal Lok temple corridor following a wind storm last month, saying the BJP had not spared “Mother Narmada” either. “Even in that, there is corruption. Where will they stop?”

The Congress general secretary talked of “rising atrocities against the tribal community”. Harking back to grandmother Indira Gandhi’s time, Priyanka said: “You will remember how much work Indiraji used to do for the Adivasi community… Today, your plight is that atrocities are increasing, whether it is the old, young, tribals, Dalits. The data shows this, your experience shows this.”

Invoking her family’s “sacrifice”, Priyanka said politicians should not play with emotions. “I have not come here to ask for votes, I have come here to make you vigilant. Because I know how difficult it is to make something. My family has sacrificed itself to make this country,” she said.

In his speech, Kamal Nath accused the BJP of using religion. “Religion is a subject of ideas, not publicity… The BJP is making this into a subject for publicity,” he said, adding: “I am Hindu, I can say this with pride.”

On the BJP government’s track record, Kamal Nath said, “After 15 years, you decided to vote for the Congress (in 2018). Shivraj Singh was the chief minister at the time. What kind of state did he hand over? Priyankaji, he handed over a state which was No. 1 in farmer suicides, unemployment, and crimes against women.”