BJP protests Cong’s ‘failure’ in MP

In its first agitation against the Kamal Nath government after losing power in Madhya Pradesh in November 2018 assembly elections, Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged statewide protests over the failure of the ruling Congress to deliver on its promises to waive farm loans and provide cheap electricity to the people in MP. Senior leaders of the party including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP president Rakesh Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Gopal Bhargav led agitation by party workers at different places in the state to highlight the plight of the farmers caused by failure to waive their farm loans.

“Farmers are receiving letters from banks warning them of action if they failed to repay their loans. But, the state government is parroting day in day out that the crop debts of the farmers have already been written off,” Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters while waving notices issued to peasants by the banks.

He also said people were getting inflated electricity bills to the tune of `10,000 in some cases, even though the Kamal Nath government had announced to fix only `100 per month from each consumer as their electricity bill. Mr Shivraj Chouhan regretted that the farmers who have suffered crop damage due to heavy rains have yet to be compensated by the state government, compounding their miseries.

Interestingly, the ruling Congress also staged statewide protests on Monday over the failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government to release funds to the state to give compensation to the deluge-hit farmers.