Madhya Pradesh Panchayat minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia stirred a controversy after a video purportedly showing him asking Congress members in the state to join the ruling BJP or “face Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s bulldozer”.
The minister made the remarks at a public meeting in Ruthiyai town in Guna district on Wednesday and is being widely shared on social media.
“Listen Congress members – join the BJP. Move towards this side slowly. In 2023 too, the BJP will form a government in MP. Mama’s bulldozer is ready,” he can be heard saying in the video.
The Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has been bulldozing alleged illegal portions of the houses of people accused of various offences. The chief minister has hailed the ‘bulldozer’ move often, which he says is a symbol of his government’s “zero tolerance” towards crime and criminals.
Meanwhile, reacting to the video, Guna district Congress chief Harishankar Vijaywargiya said that people of Raghogarh will the saffron party a “befitting reply” in the January 20 Raghogarh Nagar civic polls. Raghogarh is the home turf of senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh and Singh’s son Jaiwardhan Singh is the MLA from the constituency.
“He should exercise restraint in his language. The people of Raghogarh will give a befitting reply to him on January 20 in the polls,” Vijaywargiya said, as quoted by PTI.