BJP president JP Nadda on Friday dubbed Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as the "king" of corruption and sought votes for his party in the year-end Assembly polls to end graft in the Congress-ruled state.
Listing achievements of the Narendra Modi government, he said it has empowered the poor, underprivileged sections, youths, Dalits and farmers in its nine years of rule.
Addressing a public rally in Bilaspur city, the BJP chief claimed the Baghel government does not do any work except indulging in corruption and alleged graft tainted people are linked to the CM.
Urging people to vote for the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls, Nadda said it has become necessary to unseat the "corrupt" Congress government in the state, where the grand old party came to power in 2018 after ending 15 years of saffron rule.
"Bhupesh Baghel does not do any work. He is steeped in corruption. He has become 'baadshah' (king) of corrupt people. All corrupt people are directly linked to him," the BJP leader said in a scathing attack on the Congress CM.
The Baghel government has merely put its label on works and schemes launched during the previous Raman Singh-led BJP administration, he said.
He asked people gathered at the rally whether or not the Baghel government had committed corruption in coal transportation, liquor, sand and other sectors to which they replied in the affirmative.
"Isn't the CM's deputy secretary in jail? She is in jail for five months now, the BJP chief said, referring to a bureaucrat arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged coal levy scam in the state.
Nadda asked people to make corrupt people sit at home and oust the Congress government from office.
He said the economy grew stronger under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and India became the world's fifth-largest economy last year overtaking Britain.
The day is not far when India will become the third-largest economy in the world, he asserted.
"When the pandemic resulted in an economic slowdown and the Ukraine conflict disrupted the global supply chain, the world faced an economic crisis, but a report by (US investment bank) Morgan Stanley said India remains a ray of hope in such an adverse situation," he said.
Highlighting the Modi government's thrust on infrastructure development, he said this year alone the Centre has planned to invest Rs 10 lakh crore in multiple projects, which include construction of highways, railways, bridges and flyovers.
-With PTI input
