Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said corruption was rampant in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, and even God has not been spared.
During the day, the Congress staged protests in 51 districts of the state against corruption, highlighting the May 28 incident where six idols installed at Ujjain's Mahakal Lok Corridor collapsed due to the high winds, the June 12 fire at Satpura Bhawan in Bhopal where government offices are housed, and rising inflation.
“We could not hold protest in two districts -- Indore and Jhabua -- due to inclement weather,” chairman of the MP Congress media cell K K Mishra told PTI. Elections are due in MP by year-end.
“When Kamal Nath was chief minister, he had sanctioned Rs 300-350 crore for the renovation of the Mahakaleshwar temple at Ujjain. A contractor from Gujarat assured that the idols installed there would remain intact for a century. But they tumbled in the light wind within just one year," Singh said at the meeting here.
“They are not sparing even God while doing corruption,” Singh said, adding that if Nath comes back to power, he will take all those responsible to task. The assets of the high and mighty including politicians and officers would be investigated, the former chief minister added.
Fires have broken out in government offices in MP 15 times since 2003 when the BJP came to power, except for the period of 15 months of the Congress government, Singh claimed.
Short circuit in an air conditioner was blamed for the fire at Satpura Bhavan but no official looking after the building's safety was held responsible, he said. "Evidence related to corruption is being destroyed," Singh said.
There was also rampant corruption in the Ladli Laxmi Yojana, a scheme under which Rs 1,000 each is given to 1.25 crore women monthly, the Congress veteran said. “Give women a cooking gas cylinder for Rs 100 instead of Rs 1100," he said, adding that inflation has soared under the BJP regime.
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government copied the Nari Samman Nidhi Yojana rolled out by the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, he claimed. On candidate selection for the Assembly elections, Singh said Nath would take the call, largely based on winnability surveys.
