New Delhi: With three days left of campaigning for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections, the Congress is hopeful that it will get a clear majority in both states as the BJP has no face except Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the misuse of central agencies will backfire.
Explaining the situation in Chhattisgarh, where the first phase of elections took place on November 7 for 20 Assembly seats, a senior Congress leader said the BJP is raising the issue of Mahadev app to target Congress and tarnish the image of the party leaders as they have no face in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. But they are forgetting that they themselves are accused of not doing any work in the Mahakal scam in Madhya Pradesh and are raising the name Mahadev in Chhattisgarh for their gains, the party leader said.
He explained that the Baghel government will get votes on the basis of work in the last five years in the mineral rich state. “They won’t succeed. They don’t have a face there,” he said.
Commenting on the BJP’s strategy to project Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face in place of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and similarly in Chhattisgarh, the source said that the saffron party has nothing to show.
“In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has no face, like the case of Karnataka, where we had Siddaramaiah, who took on the Prime Minister. But in case of BJP there is no such face in Chhattisgarh. Similar is the situation in Madhya Pradesh, where all the posters and banners have the Prime Minister’s face instead of the sitting Chief Minister’s face,” he added.
He said that former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Raman Singh is also no longer a major force in the state. Thus BJP has gone faceless in Chhattisgarh, he added.
The party leader said that the Congress will form a government in Chhattisgarh as it will get a clear majority. He said, the BJP’s main issue is Mahadev (online books betting scam), while ours is the work in the last five years, he added. The party leader also said that in Madhya Pradesh there is strong undercurrent for Congress and there are two reasons for the same. “First the long 18 years rule of BJP, which has made people feel that the government is not doing anything for them and second is the backstabbing of Kamal Nath in 2020 after Congress won in the 2018 assembly elections,” he explained.
He said that many people still remember the work of the Kamal Nath government after it came to power in the state as it immediately announced waiving farm loans. In Jabalpur, Mahakaushal matters. In Jabalpur first cabinet meeting was held in Jabalpur and the Rs 3,000 crore project was given approval. After that the government lost the majority and no work was done, the party leader explained. Agniveer scheme is also important in Jabalpur. There is sympathy for Congress, he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have addressed several public meetings in the state and also held roadshows.
The party already had several guarantees for people in both the states.
The polling for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly and second phase of Chhattisgarh for 70 seats is scheduled on November 17. The campaigning will stop on November 15 evening.
Commenting on the situation in Telangana where election for the 119-member Assembly is scheduled on November 30, the party leader said that the Congress has overtaken the ruling BRS led by K.Chandrasekhar Rao and the BJP.
The party leader said that in Telangana, there are many ‘mausam vaigyaniks’, who had left Congress in last few years have returned to party in this election sensing the positive feedback from the people and its chances of forming the government. The party leader also claimed that in Telangana, Karnataka effect is visible.
“It is a straight fight between the Congress and ruling BRS. There is an effect of AIMIM in Hyderabad on seven seats. However, it won’t have any massive effect on Congress. Similarly, the BJP has lost its plot in the southern states,” the party leader said. He said that in Telangana, BJP is the main stronghold in some parts of Hyderabad. Outside Hyderabad they are not stronger as it is projected.
“Thus we are hopeful of getting a majority in the state this year and will cross the figure of 60 seats,” he said.
The party leader also said that the results of the five states will have a positive impact on Congress as it is also hopeful of a good show in Mizoram, where the ruling MNF is facing strong anti-incumbency, despite ZPM making it a tri-cornered fight.
Mizoram voted for a 40-member Assembly seat on November 7, along with the first phase of voting in Chhattisgarh for 20 seats.
The party leader said that another victory in Rajasthan, where the Ashok Gehlot-led government is seeking a second consecutive term riding high on his works and pro-people schemes and the seven guarantees announced a few days ago will also strengthen the organisation ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Counting of votes for all five states will take place on December 3.
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