Bhopal: It is the party that decides who gets what role, repeated Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Wednesday, adding that the BJP has many leaders “of my stature” and “more capable than me” in the state itself.
But will he be the chief minister if the BJP retains power in Madhya Pradesh? “It is a decision that the party has to take,” Chouhan said.
“We are simple workers of the party. I do not have anything special,” he added.
Winding up a gruelling poll campaign, the CM looked relaxed and confident as he sat for an exclusive interview with ThePrint at his residence. Madhya Pradesh votes on Friday.
Rejecting suggestions that while his party’s emphasis was on collective leadership, he was capable of pulling off a win on his own, he said: “It is a language of arrogance that I never speak. No one is ever capable (of working alone). If I say this, I will be the person who is full of arrogance, who only thinks of himself.”
As the campaign came to a close in MP, the CM held over 160 sabhas in the poll-bound state. Asked what he felt on the ground, a confident Chouhan said, “The BJP will get a spectacular success and we are getting the love and affection of the people of Madhya Pradesh.”
Dismissing the anti-incumbency wave against him — he was in the saddle 2005-18, and after a brief stint of Congress’s Kamal Nath, again since 2020 — when many are hinting that he will not return, the CM, popularly known as mama, said, “It does not matter what they say, the people will bring us back.”
Asked if he thinks the Congress is playing the Hindutva card, with Kamal Nath calling himself a Hanuman devotee, Chouhan said, “Just as playing cards decide someone’s fate in gambling, during elections, the sacred function of democracy, issues such as Hindutva are played up, like in Shakuni’s Chausar. They are committing the sin of betting the mandate of the people of MP by treating this as a trump card.”
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Govt schemes
Party leaders say that the Ladli Behna Yojana started by Chouhan with over 1.31 crore beneficiaries has been a game changer for the BJP that was confronted with massive anti-incumbency.
Chouhan, however, refused to link the scheme with the elections. “We brought the Ladli Laxmi Yojna in 2006, Kanya Vivah (financial assistance for marriage of women), we gave 50 percent reservation to women in local body elections, we were the first to give women 30 percent reservation in services…there were several such works and Ladli Behna Yojana is one such step in that direction.”
But will the scheme make an electoral impact? “Definitely, Ladli Behna Yojana has helped sisters belonging to economically disadvantaged and marginalised families and changed their lives. It has boosted their self-confidence and self-respect. These sisters are with us. These are neither political relations nor are they from today…this is another kind of relation as they are my family,” he said.
On tribals & Congress
Tribals constitute around 21 percent of the state’s population, according to state government data. Of the 47 seats reserved for tribals in MP, the BJP won 16 in 2018, a drastic drop from the 31 it had won in 2013.
In a bid to improve its tally on these seats, the BJP kickstarted a massive tribal outreach programme in September 2021 with Union Minister Amit Shah laying the foundation of a museum for tribal icons in Jabalpur. This was followed by several schemes being rolled out for tribals — from implementation of PESA (Panchayat, Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996) to providing free delivery of ration at their doorsteps. PESA gives special powers to gram sabhas in scheduled areas.
On how his government has worked for tribals, Chouhan said PESA has been enforced. “This time, right from collecting tendu leaves to giving rights on jal, jungle and zameen, there are several works that have been done and we have all come together. Tribals will stand along with others.”
Asked what he thought about giving reservation to OBCs, as was being assured by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Chouhan remarked, “I do not want to comment on what they have to say. The BJP believes in social harmony. We have worked a lot for the OBC community…people from all sections of the society are our brothers and sisters. We work for all...”
Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, he said, “When people like Rahul Gandhi talk in favour of OBCs, it reminds me of the saying ‘Kauwa chala hans ki chaal’. Why hasn’t Rahul baba, who doesn’t refrain from abusing our OBC PM everyday, made a single OBC CM in Madhya Pradesh till date?”
“However, I do not want to talk about anyone’s personal life and if there is talk of a caste census, first Rahul baba and Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath ji should tell the public about their caste,” he said, adding that caste census is an issue that needs to be discussed in detail.
For 2024 (Lok Sabha elections), Chouhan said the people of the country have already made up their minds to give the biggest victory to the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The entire country trusts the leadership of Narendra Modi ji with all its heart,” he said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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