BJP has claimed that there is no anti-incumbency factor this time in Madhya Pradesh where the party is fighting the Assembly polls on the development plank on Thursday.
While talking to mediapersons, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told, “During the 2003 Assembly elections, there was a wave against the then Congress Government but there is no such thing this time and BJP has a constructive agenda.” The senior BJP leader said that during its 10-year rule, the party had manage to take Madhya Pradesh out of the category of BIMARU States and now it is on the road of development.
On charges against more than a dozen BJP ministers with the lokayukta, he said that mere filing of a complaint does not prove anything against anyone.
Jaitley claimed that of the five States in which Assembly polls are being held now, BJP would win in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
“The Congress has nothing to give in Madhya Pradesh neither in terms of governance nor with respect to leadership. This term ‘Bantadhar’ has become its fundamental nature,” he added.
In 2003, the BJP had described former Congress chief minister Digvijay Singh as ‘Shreeman Banthadar’ (Mr Spoilsport) for its election campaign. Jaitley used the term without directly taking the name of the former chief minister.
“On the other hand, we have changed the agenda of governance in the State. Madhya Pradesh that was previously labelled as ‘bimaru’ has transformed into a developing State. It could be aptly called a turnaround story,” he said.
Dwelling on the achievement of double digit growth rate besides growth in agriculture sector, Jaitley said Madhya Pradesh was untouched by politics of development in 2003. However, the BJP Government had focussed on the problems of water, roads and electricity besides economic growth in the previous two terms.
Asserting that the BJP would campaign with full vigour during in the last phases of election campaign, he said that the party was being benefitted by the performance of the BJP Government and the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.