‘Chashma’ a new entrant in by-polls campaign in MP

By Praveen Dwivedi

Bhopal, Oct 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) With just a few days left for the by-polls in three assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, leaders from both national political parties -- the BJP and the Congress -- are letting go of no opportunity to take a swipe at each other.

While the ruling BJP leaders at each campaign rally accused the Congress of 'indulging in corruption and vasooli' (recovering money) during Kamal Nath's 15 month government, the latter (Congress) is busy reminding the people about incidents which occurred in the last 15 years in the state.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, for whom the by-polls have become a matter of prestige, repeatedly accused Kamal Nath of stopping several development works initiated during his tenure.

"During the last elections Kamal Nath-led Congress made several promises but all those promises were thrown into the dustbin after coming to power. He (Kamal Nath) had promised he will bring money from his own sources and will start development works, provide jobs but he failed. Now, he and the entire Congress party are asking me to show my work report," Shivraj Singh Chouhan said while addressing a rally in Raigon assembly constituency in Satna district on Wednesday.

If the BJP finds Kamal Nath's 15 month tenure as chief minister less to blame, it leaves no chance to remind people about former Congress chief minister Digvijaya Singh's tenure, who was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh from 1993 to 2003.

Amid this blame game and reminding of past incidents, the by-polls campaign has taken another route also. For the last two days, leaders from both the parties have found a new subject for the campaign 'Pratima ke balon me latka chashma' which sounds akin to the popular comedy show 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah'.

'Pratima ke balon me latka chashma' became a subject of political speech after Brijendra Pratap Singh (a minister in Shivraj's cabinet) was seen removing a chashmah (spectacle) from Pratima Bagri's hair, who is the BJP's candidate from Raigon assembly constituency.

Taking a dig after the incident, state Congress leaders named it - 'Pratima ke balon me latka chashma'.

Also, the Congress found this incident to be an opportunity to blame the BJP for 'disrespectful behaviour with a woman'.

However, Chouhan, who was addressing a rally in Raigon (Satna) for Pratima Bagri on Wednesday, attacked the Congress saying, "They (Congress) have nothing to tell what they have done in 15 months, which is why they have found this incident as a political opportunity."

Meanwhile, Kamal Nath blamed the BJP-run state government for high inflation and rampant corruption. "He (Shivraj) is a good actor of his director (PM Modi). In the last 15 years, more than 22,000 announcements have been made but the condition of people in Madhya Pradesh is worsening day by day. People are fed up with fake promises," Nath said while addressing a rally in Kandwa Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday.

Source: IANS