BHOPAL:Former Union minister and newly elected BJP Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia hit the campaign trail for the 25 Assembly by-elections in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, accusing the Kamal Nath government of corruption.
Accompanied by MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the former Congress leader, who along with 22 loyalist MLAs scripted the fall of the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government in March, addressed a public meeting in Agar-Malwa district, whose Agar-SC assembly seat is going for elections.
Hitting out at the Congress and former CMs Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, Scindia accused them of running the government “like a business”.
“The state secretariat was plagued with rampant corruption. While one brother occupied the chair, the government was actually run by the other brother,” he said.
“The entire state secretariat was turned into a hotspot of brokers and middlemen, which was due to only two men who wielded power. They didn’t have time for the ministers,” he said.
“Then CM Kamal Nath didn’t have time for holding meetings for safeguarding state against the Covid-19 virus. The focus was put on holding the International Indian Film Aacdemy awards in Indore. On March 23, the real warrior Shivraj Singh Chouhan assumed power and has since been endlessly waging war against the deadly virus,” Scindia said.
Praising the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the newly-elected Rajya Sabha member said: “While the PM enforced the lockdown to combat Covid-19 to save lives, the Congress clamped emergency to crush democracy in the country. Even while in the Congress, I never supported the emergency.”
Asked about the political crisis in Rajasthan and his recent meeting with Sachin Pilot, Scindia said: “Whatever I had to say I have said in my tweet. All I can say is that there is no place for merit and talent any longer in the Congress.”
He also met former CM and BJP national vice-president Uma Bharti in Bhopal.
As many as 25 bypolls are slated in the coming months, 22 of which were necessitated by the resignation of Congress MLAs in March.