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War of words between BJP, Congress intensifies

BHOPAL: The war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, the two arch rivals in Madhya Pradesh, is getting louder with the Assembly election drawing near.

Concluding a 24-hour protest fast, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan last week threw a volley of questions at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blaming the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre of neglecting the interests of the people of Madhya Pradesh by deliberately putting on the backburner demands relating to power, foodgrains and drought relief. The Chief Minister had also threatened to launch a signature campaign to be followed up by a “Nyaya Yatra” (journey for justice) and a peaceful struggle if the Centre fails to respond to the demands .

The BJP had also put the Centre in the dock blaming it solely for the menace of rising prices and this became one of the major factors for tilting the balance in its favour in the just-concluded Betul Parliamentary election in the State.

The Chief Minister has also written to the Prime Minister asking for guidelines for the farm loan waiver package announced by the Centre. Expressing deep concern at the “protracted delay” in issuing detailed guidelines, the Chief Minister has said that millions of farmers had received the news of loan waiver with renewed hope and expectations but the huge gap in follow up action was a cause for worry and doubt.

He has said in his letter that cooperative financial institutions that form the backbone of the rural farm credit system have been forced to stop recovery of old loans. In the absence of clear guidelines, no concrete plans for disbursement of loans for the Kharif season can be drawn up. The Congress is also busy taking the ruling BJP head-on on the issue of rising prices. During the mass contact drive, the State Congress president Suresh Pachouri has been telling the people that the State Government should stop the blame game and explain what steps it had taken to maintain stability on the price front.

Addressing a meeting of women party workers at Mandideep near here over the weekend, Mr. Pachouri said that the Bharatiya Janata Party -led State Government had failed to fulfil its pre-election promise to supply interrupted power for 16 to 18 hours. He said that prices of certain commodities like diesel and petrol were dictated by international trends but for controlling the prices of other commodities, the State Government lacked the will and initiative and this got amply demonstrated by the fact that action was completely missing when it came to booking hoarders and black-marketers.

Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Jamuna Devi is also trying to maintain heat on the State Government on the corruption issue. She called a press conference here on Saturday to link a recent High Court order with the dumper scam and to reiterate her allegation that the CM was directly involved.

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War of words between BJP, Congress intensifies

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