Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh stepped in Congress veteran Ajit Jogi's home turf — Marwahi Assembly seat — on Sunday and proved a massive crowd puller where he announced a string of welfare projects to the tune of Rs 11 crore.
The Marwahi seat in Bilaspur district is a stronghold of Chhattisgarh's former Chief Minister Jogi where he registered one-sided victory in past two Assembly polls.But on Saturday when Raman Singh, who is heading the BJP Government since 2003, was cheered by a crowd strength up to 18,000 in Marwahi at a public meeting which energised BJP's local cadres and gave an impression that Jogi, too, can be successfully challenged in Assembly polls which is expected in the state by November this year.
Buoyed by unprecedented surge of public support at Jogi's citadel, Singh tried to convince the gathering that BJP regime had brought revolution in all sectors in past 10 years. “look at the Chhattisgarh's Food and Nutrition Security Act, it's covering almost 90 per cent of State’s 2.55 crore people, my Government's efforts to provide 35 kg rice at Rs 2 and Rs 1 kg in entire state in an effective manner has won appreciation inside and outside India,” Singh remarked amid cheers and claps by the crowd.
Singh also took a pot shot at the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for adopting a Food Security Ordnance which needs ‘a series of serious amendments’. He stated that Centre should emulate the Chhattisgarh model of Food Security if it was really serious to bring food security in the country.
Singh had addressed a public meeting at Pendra area too where he unveiled development projects worth Rs 15 crore in presence of an estimated crowd of over 20,000, mostly the tribals.