NEW DELHI: PM Modi on Wednesday emphasised that a vote for BJP in MP would mean support for him even as he lauded the role of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in turning the state around during the two-decade saffron spell in Bhopal. The appeal was significant for the full-throated endorsement of Chouhan for taking the state from the BIMARU club and making it one of the 10 top performing economies in India.
Shivraj isn’t BJP’s CM face, but PM endorses his leadership Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday threw himself into the
Madhya Pradesh electoral arena emphasising that a vote for BJP would mean support for him even as he lauded the role of the Shivraj Chouhan-led BJP government in turning the state around in the two-decade saffron spell in Bhopal.
In a letter to the MP electorate, the PM said, “I have always felt special affinity for Madhya Pradesh, which showed its affection for me by handing unprecedented victories in both 2014 and 2019
Lok Sabha elections. I have full confidence that in the coming elections, you would again support me directly by reposing confidence yet again in BJP to form a double engine government.”
The appeal was significant also for the full-throated endorsement of CM Chouhan for speeding up development in MP and leading its transformation from a member of the BIMARU club of backward states into one of the 10 top performing economies in the country. “In the last 20 years, MP has shaken off its past as one of the BIMARU states to become powerful, prosperous and self-reliant. Who can forget that until 2003 (beginning of BJP’s current dominance), the state had lacked basic facilities of power, water and roads. Thanks to the trust you placed in us, the state ranks among the top fastest-growing economies in the country. I feel proud after seeing that tireless efforts of
Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP government have resulted in constructions of 5 lakh km of roads, piped water supply to 65 thousand households and generation of 28,000 MVAs of electricity.”
The compliment for Chouhan comes against the backdrop of persistent speculation about his place in BJP’s new scheme of things, with the party’s decision not to project him as the face of its campaign and field MPs, including Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, in the assembly elections, thus thickening the cloud over the incumbent.
“Today, MP’s development model has become a template for welfare of poor, advancement of women, and comprehensive development,” said the PM in what appeared to be a reference to Chouhan’s “Laadli” scheme for women.