Ujjain: Former chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee’s coordination committee chairman Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday challenged the BJP and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan to prove him ‘Mr Bantadhar’.
“Let the CM compare his 15-year-tenure against my 10-year-tenure on a public forum,” he challenged. Addressing media on the sidelines of a unity convention of Congress workers of Ujjain district at Chintaman Ganesh Mandir Road atSuraj Garden, Digvijaya claimed that his tenure was quite better vis-à-vis BJP government’s rule during the past 15 years. When he was asked to react on BJP’s claim that his (Digvijaya’s) comments used to help them, he rejected that he was hands in gloves with the BJP.
“If I am so helpful to the BJP, then why are its leaders attacking me on social media every time,” he remarked. He also said despite hard efforts, the BJP government did not find even a single case against him and even the charges of corruption leveled by its leader against him proved wrong in the courts. He said that if he was so unpopular then why was the BJP government toeing his government’s policies.
Digvijaya Singh charged that excessive expenditure on unproductive works and high corruption level has increased the loan on Madhya Pradesh government from Rs 24, 000 crore (which was there in 1993) to Rs 2 lakh crore (which is there in 2018). Despite the poor fiscal condition of the State CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had been continuously making announcements. More than 500 announcements made by the CM had not been fulfilled whereas more than 90 percent of the announcements made by him were executed, he said.
He also said this time the Congress would make only those poll promises, which could be fulfilled and AICC chief Rahul Gandhi’s announcement to waive loan of farmers just after coming into power was a practical one. On the issue of skyrocketing prices of petroleum products, he said if the Centre bring oil products under GST and take their rates similar to the rates of year 2016, consumers can get these products about Rs 15 to 18 less than the present rates.