New Delhi: While the “Mood of the Nation survey” indicated that the Congress was rapidly gaining its vote share in Madhya Pradesh, the state chief minister, Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan not merely exuded confidence of returning to power but also denied speculations of him being shifted to the Centre after the state Assembly elections later this year. Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, Mr Chauhan claimed that so far the party high command has “not” given any indication of him being shifted to the Centre. On Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit to various religious places in Madhya Pradesh, the chief minister observed that there was a “difference between showing off and genuine faith.”
For him, there is “no soft or hard Hindutva. Hindutva is Hindutva. People know everything. This drama of going to temples to garner votes will not help the Congress president or his party,” Mr Chouhan said.
On Mr Gandhi’s proposed visit to Mandsaur on June 6, the first anniversary of the death of farmers in police firing is an attempt to disturb the atmosphere in the state, Mr Chouhan felt that this was Congress’ attempt to “create disturbance in the state”.
According to Mr Chouhan, the farmers’ unrest at Mandsaur was mainly due to fall in prices and government has taken adequate mesures to financially compensate the farmers. “Congress was again trying to disturb the peace and incite violence in the state”, he said.
He also spoke about “factionalism” in the state Congress saying that while a section of Congress was “rooting for Jyotiraditya Scindia” the other wants “Kamal Nath” to be the chief ministerial candidate. “Let them sort out their own differences only then they can think about dislodging me,” he told this newspaper.
The “Mood of the Nation survey” had claimed that if the Assembly elections in the state were held at this juncture the Congress party would win comfortably. According to the survey, the Congress has gained nearly 15 percent vote share over the BJP in the state.
Refusing to comment on the survey reports, Mr Chouhan said that he was not interested in commenting on any survey but people “will vote to form a BJP government in the state.” he said; “If there is anti incumbency against anyone (MLA) on a seat, party will act accordingly,” he explained.
Taking a jibe on much talked about Opposition unity after Karnataka assembly polls, Mr Chouhan said that first of all Congress must unite its state unit before trying to form a Grand Alliance.
