Chhattisgarh elections: Ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday released an “Arop Patra” (chargesheet) against the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh, claiming that his government has broken “all records of corruption”.
He further accused Chief Minister Baghel of making Chhattisgarh an “ATM of Gandhi Parivar”.
“I have come to ask Bhupesh Baghel, let’s have an audit of 10 years of governance of yours and the BJP before the people of Chhattisgarh. They will decide for themselves. If you have delivered even one-third of what we have done, then you have a right to rule. In the last five years, you (Baghel) have only looted and committed atrocities, and worked as the ATM of Gandhi family, and only looted the poor,” he claimed in Raipur.
The union home minister also charged the Baghel government of not preventing religious conversions in tribal areas of Chhattisgarh for its vote bank politics.
“People have to decide whether they want the Baghel government that talks about protecting the rights of tribals even as religious conversions flourish under it or the BJP government which protects and preserves tribals and their culture,” he said.
He also listed out alleged scams related to coal, liquor, online betting that are being probed by central agencies, and asserted that only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can save Chhattisgarh from the Congress’ scams, atrocities and misrule.
Referring to the money laundering case related to an alleged illegal betting app ‘Mahadev Online Book’, the union home minister said, “People of Chhattisgarh have to decide whether they want the Bhupesh Baghel government, which has committed corruption to the tune of thousands of crore or BJP government that paves the way for development.”
Speaking about Raman Singh, a three-time Chief Minister, Shah said, “When Raman Singh was the chief minister, he started the thumb impression system to provide ration to every home. He was known as ‘chawal wale baba’ in Chhattisgarh. BJP has done the work of providing ration to the poor…Bhupesh Baghel govt has done the work of snatching ration from the poor.”
The senior BJP leader also expressed confidence that BJP will form a government with full majority in Chhattisgarh in the upcoming elections that is likely to be held in November-December, and in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will be elected to power again.
“I promise to the people of Chhattisgarh that if BJP is elected to power, every house will have access to clean water supply within two years,” he said.
With polls nearing, the BJP has started campaigning in the state. It is also the first political party in the state to release the first list of candidates, consisting of 21 names, on August 17. The party has fielded Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel from Patan, among others.
In 2018, in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, the BJP had won only 15 seats against Congress’ 68.
