New Delhi: Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, on Monday, traded barbs ahead of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh scheduled at the end of the year, with each party claiming that it would form a majority.
Congress has been flying high on its landslide victory in the recently concluded Karnataka Assembly elections with former MP Rahul Gandhi exuding confidence of an encore in Madhya Pradesh polls. However, state BJP leaders retorted back, claiming the state is their stronghold considering its geography.
A Karnataka repeat in MP: Rahul
Speaking to the reporters, Rahul Gandhi said, “We had a very detailed meeting right now. Our internal assessment says that since we got 136 seats in Karnataka, we are now going to get 150 seats in Madhya Pradesh. What we did in Karnataka, we will repeat in MP.”
He made the remarks after a meeting of party national president Mallikarjun Kharge with other party leaders.
However, the former MP from Wayanad refused to comment on the Chief Ministerial face of the party in the state.
On May 22, the Congress party presented ‘five promises’ to the people of Madhya Pradesh. These include:
- Gas cylinder at ₹500
- Rs 1,500 to every woman per month
- 100 units of free electricity, 200 units halved
- Farm loan waiver
- Implementation of old pension scheme
Will win over 200 seats: BJP
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s claims and said that BJP will win more than 200 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections.
BJP leader V D Sharma told PTI, “Madhya Pradesh shares borders with Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. The party is certain to win over 200 seats based on its development model.”
The assembly election is expected to take place later in the year. Its assembly consists of 230 seats. In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats and BJP got 109 seats.
However, in 2020, the party lost the majority following a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia leading to 23 Congress MLAs resigning. After this, BJP formed the government and Shivraj Singh Chouhan was reinstated as the Chief Minister.
(With inputs from agencies)
