In poll year, Shivraj & Kamal Nath in war of words over ‘unfulfilled promises’

BHOPAL:  With only 10 months left for the next assembly polls, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor Kamal Nath are engaged in a war of words over “unfulfilled promises”.

Chouhan has been seeking a response to questions pertaining to “unfulfilled promises” of the 15-month-old erstwhile government led by Nath. On the other hand, the former CM is asking questions about the “unfulfilled promises” of the government led by Chouhan.

The incumbent CM, who has been in power for more than 15 years now, poses questions every day on camera, whether planting saplings at Bhopal’s Smart City Park or attending meetings at the state BJP HQ. The Congress veteran’s questions come largely through the micro-blogging platform Twitter. For two days on Saturday and Sunday, Chouhan asked Nath about bonuses to wheat, chickpea, mustard and dairy farmers.

He followed it up with more questions on Monday. He asked why the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government didn’t start the Krishak Kanya Vivah Yojana, which is a Rs 51,000 -assistance scheme for marrying daughters of small farmers.

“Forget about starting the scheme promised in Congress’s 2018 polls manifesto, even the ongoing CM Vivah Yojana scheme of our government was stopped by the then Kamal Nath government,” Chouhan said on Monday.

On Tuesday, the CM while waving the Congress’s 2018 polls manifesto termed it as a pack of lies. He asked: “You (Nath) had promised during your chief ministerial stint that crop insurance scheme benefits will be given to farmers on the recommendation of Gram Sabhas. Can you (Nath) tell us how many times farmers benefited under crop insurance schemes during your regime on Gram Sabhas’ recommendations?

Nath, on the other hand, questioned Chouhan over Twitter on Tuesday, “Is your government actually fulfilling the promise made in BJP’s 2018 Vision Document, about procuring 100 per cent pulse crop from farmers?”