All corrupt staff to face stern action, says Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Bhopal: Taking a cue from his Chhattisgarh counterpart Raman Singh, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has threatened to take stern action against corrupt officials, stirring the hornet’s nest in the bureaucratic circle here.

Addressing a government function here late on Thursday evening, Mr Chouhan said he had earlier announced to punish the corrupt and incompetent officials by dangling them upside down.However, he invited criticism from several quarters for his tough talk.

“My utterances may have upset some people. But, I want the corrupt officials to be suspended upside down in air,” he said.

Incidentally, Mr Chouhan has till recently been facing flak from his own ministers and party MLAs for not being able to rein in the corrupt bureaucrats in the state administration.

He was reportedly rapped over the knuckles by the central party leadership for this recently. He has since then started talking tough against corruption and incompetence in the administration.

Former MP chief secretary Nirmala Buchh, however, took a jibe at the chief minister for threatening to hang the corrupt officials upside down, describing it “film dialogue”.

“Corrupt officials can be punished under law. The chief minister’s warnings sound like Sholay (film) dialogue,” the ex-bureaucrat told the media here.

Earlier, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh had landed in controversy by making a similar statement.