Bhopal: Four days ahead of the state's first phase of elections, 'babu trouble' is looming large over the BJP in Madhya Pradesh after the threatening statement of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan against a district collector has gone viral on Wednesday. The first phase of elections in Madhya Pradesh will be held in six Lok Sabha seats on April 29.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday was angry over Chindwara district collector's decision to turn down a request to land his helicopter at Gudmandi, where he was to address a public rally in support of BJP candidates for the Chindwara LS Seat and Chhindwara assembly seat by-election.
Furious over this, the former chief minister warned collector Shrinivas Sharma in his speech, saying, “BJP’s day will come soon. Then what will happen to you?”
According to a senior district official, Chouhan’s chopper had reached Gudmandi taluka in Chhindwara around 5.00pm. The chopper had reached Chhindwara after two stopovers at Baihar and Katangi in Balaghat district.
While the chopper was hovering over Gudmandi, Chhindwara collector Shrinivas Sharma refused permission to land, citing aviation rules that don't permit landing of choppers after 5 pm.
Upset over this, Chouhan reached Gudmandi by road and addressed the rally where he slammed Chief Minister Kamal Nath and the collector. “I requested the collector to allow me to land in Gudmandi to address the meeting, but he refused, saying the time for the landing is over. If Kamal Nath won’t allow me to land my chopper here, I will travel by car. When I was the chief minister of the state, I never stopped anybody from landing his or her chopper for meetings.”
The BJP national vice-president added, “Listen, Kamal Nath I am the son of the soil and will not tolerate injustice.”
Chouhan declared that he would lodge a formal protest against the collector. He also cited his experience in West Bengal, where he was denied permission to land his chopper.
“She is the Didi (West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee) there and here is Kamal Nath Dada,” he added.
The collector said he just followed the law strictly.
“The decision to refuse permission was taken as per the aviation guidelines. Under the guidelines, helicopters can land between 10 am and 5 pm. Chouhan’s pilot sought permission at 5:02 pm,” he told mediapersons.
Congress cries foul
Meanwhile, videos of Chouhan’s warning went viral in social media. The Congress has termed Chouhan’s allegations baseless.
“The language used by Shivraj Singh Chouhan against the collector and the chief minister is bad in taste and highly objectionable. He has threatened the collector. We will lodge a complaint before the Election Commission,” Congress state spokesperson Narendra Salija said.
Babus angry
Chouhan's remarks did not go down well with the bureaucrats in the state also.
A senior IAS officer said, “Chouhan himself was a chief minister for 13 years. How come he is not aware of aviation rules? I am amazed what kind of words Chouhan is using against a government servant who is simply doing his job”?
Three days ago, senior BJP functionary and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Gopal Bhargav had threatened officials in Shivapuri district where he had gone to support Guna Lok Sabha candidate K P Yadav, who filed his nomination papers on Monday.
Bhargav was upset as officials stopped his vehicle outside the premises of Shivpuri collectorate. According to the officials, Bhargav’s car and other vehicles accompanying the candidate were 100 metres away from the collectorate. This made Bhargav upset.
Later addressing a rally, Bhargav said after “Prime Minister Narendra Modi forms the government at Centre for the second time, BJP will form its government in Madhya Pradesh in a month's time. Then, we will show you who we are.”
Bhargav's remarks also drew flak from several employees' organisations in the state.
According to president of Madhya Pradesh Karmachari Congress Virendra Khongal, “employees are performing election duty as per the guidelines of the Election Commission. Under such circumstances, when employees are doing their job in a fair and responsible manner, comments of senior leaders like they will teach employees a lesson are objectionable.”
Bureaucrats' ire
In Madhya Pradesh, government employees on previous occasions also had reacted sharply to such statements. Ahead of the 2003 Assembly elections in the state, the then chief minister Digvijaya Singh has ordered sacking of 28,000 daily-wage employees, including teachers.
As a result, he had to face a massive protest and he was labelled ‘anti-employee’ by the government staff.
Digvijaya had also turned down the plea of employees for hike in dearness allowance and wages. In response, Digvijaya had stated that elections were won by poll management and not by appeasing government employees. Singh’s remarks created an uproar across the state and employees vowed to teach the Raja of Raghogarh a lesson. The BJP won the assembly elections in 2003 with a huge majority and Digvijaya Singh was thrown out of power. It took 15 years for Congress to come back to power in Madhya Pradesh in 2018.
Digvijaya Singh for the first time after that defeat is contesting elections from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat and he has already apologised to the state government employees for treating them shabbily during his tenure as chief minister in 1993-2003.
The 29 Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh will go to polls in four phases beginning on April 29.
The first phase of Lok Sabha seats that will go to polls in Madhya Pradesh are Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara. Chhindwara assembly by-election is also held along with the LS poll. In the first phase, around 1.08 crore voters will cast the ballots.