AICC general secretary and Member of Parliament Sajjan Singh Verma described constitution of State Ministry by Shivraj Singh Chouhan an ‘astute move’. Addressing the media on Saturday at his Indore residence, Verma said that the Central Government is planning to open AIIMS in every State. He wished that if things go fine, AIIMS would soon be seen operational in the State too.
Sharing his opinion regarding leadership change in the Congress, he said that the party needs some structural changes and Jyotiraditya Scindia should become president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee. If party chooses candidate from the OBC category, then Arun Yadav is suitable for that position and from ST category, it is Bala Bacchan. However, Verma said that he is not in the race for this position. About Scindia’s stint as Congress campaign chief, he said that Scindia did not get enough time to chalk out strategy. Had he been appointed a year earlier, he could have made a difference to the outcome of the elections.
Verma added that there will be no effect of the Assembly elections on the ensuing General Elections (lok Sabha) pending next year. Recalling the results of elections in 2003 and 2008, he said that the lok Sabha elections were unaffected by the Vidhan Sabha results.
Regarding MPPEB scandal, he said that a CBI enquiry should be instituted in the matter. He claimed that he has information that one list was sent from the CM’s house too recommending candidates. If former exam controller of MPPEB Pankaj Trivedi’s computer hard disk is explored then more information would be revealed.
Regarding homosexual issue, he criticized Kailash Vijayvargiya, who had recently given a statement about the issue. Verma said that Vijayvargiya has got into the habit of saying ‘unjustified’ things and when a member of his own party like Raghavji was involved in a sexual scandal, Vijayvargiya has no ground to attack anybody else. Regarding the recently held Assembly elections, Verma claimed that the issue of inflation cost the Congress dear. Also, Congress couldn’t put its point about corruption before the public in a satisfactory way.
Issues of lPG cylinder issue, steep price rise of onion, just over clouded the corruption problem plaguing the state. He blamed black marketers of playing hand in glove with the BJP by raising the price of onion just before the election. It is clearly evident that the price of onion has reduced after the elections.