Jyotiraditya Scindia begins MP campaign

New Delhi: The BJP started its campaigning in Madhya Pradesh on Monday with virtual rallies scheduled in all the 24 seats where by-polls will be held. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia addressed the first two rallies, asking people to choose between the partnership between himself and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, or that of Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, terming the latter as Kauravas.

Chouhan and Scindia would attend many of the rallies jointly to reinforce the message, a state BJP leader told ET, with the first such Jan Samvad meeting to be held by them on Tuesday for the Karera seat.

BJP state president VD Sharma, who held two meetings with Scindia for Mungaoli and Bamori seats on Monday, will hold a rally for the Ashok Nagar seat with Scindia on Tuesday. “We had 1.65 lakh viewers on Facebook for our first rally,” Sharma said. Scindia spoke on video-link with a picture of his father, the late Madhavrao Scindia, in the frame. Seventeen of the 24 by-poll seats fall in the Gwalior-Chambal region, a Scindia stronghold.

“A businessman and his agents sat in Vallabh Bhawan (secretariat) in Bhopal –– it was made a den of corruption. Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh are rattled because they lost their chair and chance to make money. I threw them on the road as they only watched out for their business. Such Kauravas need to be taught a lesson in the upcoming polls,” Scindia said at the rallies.

Terming the Nath-Singh duo as the “partnership of an elder and young brother” he said, “even God does not know what they’ll do’’. The duo calling Scindia and the 20 MLAs who supported him as traitors was a case of “ulta chor kotwaal ko daante (thief scolding the policeman)”.

Scindia said the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised to waive farm loans within 10 days or change the chief minister on the 11th day. “10 months passed, but nothing happened. Not even one rupee was waived. Unemployment allowance was not given,” Scindia claimed. He said Nath and Singh never visited the Gwalior-Chambal region while in power while his family had done all the development work here.

“For the first time in history, 20 MLAs and six cabinet ministers resigned after just one year in power. They quit for truth and justice. Kamal Nath as CM never listened or met these leaders when he was the CM,” Scindia said.