BHOPAL: Two days before the votes cast in November 28 Assembly polls are counted, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed that the ‘pro-caste reservation’ speech made by incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan two years ago could prove costly for the saffron party in Madhya Pradesh.
Former MP Raghunandan Sharma, who is known for making candid statements said on Sunday “had the CM not made the pro-reservation ‘Mai Ka Laal’ statement during his speech in the past, the party would have been in a position to win 10-15 more seats in the state.”
Talking to journalists in Mandsaur on Sunday, he said “when a person holding a high constitutional post gets swayed by emotion and makes unintentional statements... it’s bound to cause electoral damage....”
In 2016, while addressing a meet, the CM had said, “duniya ki koi taqat, koi mai ka laal aarakshan khatam nahi kar sakta (no one can dare to end reservation).
Importantly, the words “Mai Ka Laal” became the guiding slogan of the agitation against amending the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.