Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday kicked off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election campaign in Madhya Pradesh for the assembly polls later this year and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing the ‘Vijay Sankalp Sammelan’ of BJP workers in Indore, Shah said, “This is a start of the election campaign in Madhya Pradesh for assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The double-engine government changed the face of MP from BIMARU to a developed state.”
Invoking Ahilya Bai, a prominent ruler of the Malwa region, at Indore — the seat of power of the Holkars — Shah said, “Devi Ahilya Bai had taken the initiative to eradicate the remnants of slavery and revive Indian tradition... and our leader PM Narendra Modi is taking it forward... PM Modi has done the work of raising the flag of India higher all over the world. Wherever he goes, people chant Modi-Modi. This is not being done for Modi, not for BJP, but in the honour of 130 crore [1.3 billion] people of India.”
The Union minister referred to abrogation of Article 370, which gave special power to Jammu and Kashmir, and construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, to target opposition Congress. “Article 370 was nurtured by the Congress like a child for years. PM Modi has done the work of connecting Kashmir with India by abrogating Article 370 .When the Modi government came, our army destroyed the terrorists by entering Pakistan. Ram Lalla was sitting in a tent in Ayodhya... Congress was delaying the work of the temple. After the decision of the court, Modi ji laid the foundation stone of the ram temple... After Ahilya Bai Holkar, PM Modi has done the work of renovating religious places,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The Union minister referred to abrogation of Article 370, which gave special power to Jammu and Kashmir, and construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, to target opposition Congress. “Article 370 was nurtured by the Congress like a child for years. PM Modi has done the work of connecting Kashmir with India by abrogating Article 370 .When the Modi government came, our army destroyed the terrorists by entering Pakistan. Ram Lalla was sitting in a tent in Ayodhya... Congress was delaying the work of the temple. After the decision of the court, Modi ji laid the foundation stone of the ram temple... After Ahilya Bai Holkar, PM Modi has done the work of renovating religious places,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Shah said the Congress-led government did not do anything for the poor in the country for 70 years and hailed PM Modi as the “messiah of poor”. Shah blamed the previous Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh of stopping 51 schemes which were launched by the earlier BJP governments for the welfare of the poor.
“Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known as the messiah of the poor across the country due to welfare works he has done for the poor people...The Congress government which ruled the country for 70 years didn’t do anything for the poor,” he said.
“Within just one-and-a-half years in the previous government of Kamal Nath, more than 18,000 class-I officers were transferred. During his tenure, only one industry started with the help of middlemen- the ‘transfer industry’. This reminded the people about the rule of Mr Bantadhar,” he said.
During his speech, Shah repeatedly used terms like “Mr Bantadhar” and “corruption Nath”, which are viewed as swipes at Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, respectively.
Shah said the annual budget of Madhya Pradesh during the erstwhile Congress government was just ₹23,000 crore, while the incumbent government of Shivraj Singh Chouhan has presented a budget of ₹3.14 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24.
Shah set the target to win all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh to make Narendra Modi prime minister for a third time.
“People of Madhya Pradesh ensured BJP’s victory in 27 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. In 2019, they handed 28 out of the 29 LS seats to BJP. In 2024, give all 29 seats to Modi ji,” Shah said.
He expressed confidence that BJP will retain power in Madhya Pradesh by winning the assembly polls, due in November this year.
Earlier in the day, Shah visited Janapav Kuti, considered the birthplace of Lord Parshuram, in Indore district and offered prayers. Later in the evening, the Union minister held a meeting with the senior leaders of Malwa region.
The BJP kicked off its campaign from Malwa region, which, according to political experts, is the gateway to power in the state. In 2018, the party lost the election due to poor performance in Malwa-Nimar region. The BJP had only won 28 out of the 66 seats in the last assembly elections, while Congress won 35 seats. Earlier in 2013, BJP won 57 of the 66 seats in the region.
Congress MLA from Rau, Indore, Jitu Patwari said, “ AmitShah ji. Don’t know, which Madhya Pradesh are you talking about again? In our Madhya Pradesh, educated and talented unemployed [people] are agitating. Women atrocities are not decreasing. Farmers are committing suicide due to high input cost... Mistakes in recruitment exams and mutual competition of scams have overtaken.