Priyanka Gandhi launches Cong campaign for MP elections, slams BJP on scams

Bhopal: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the party’s campaign for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections after performing pooja at the river of Narmada, on Monday.

While addressing the party’s mega rally in Jabalpur, the ‘sansakardhani’ of Madhya Pradesh, Vadra hit out at the ruling BJP over issues ranging from scams to growing unemployment and atrocities against women and tribal in the state.

"I was surprised to know that Shivraj Singh Chouhan's scam list is longer than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's abuses. In the last 220 days, 250 scams occurred in Madhya Pradesh. This is the development the BJP government brought around in the last three years after toppling the Congress government," Priyanka said.

Corruption affects the lives of common people and ruins their future. Political parties make promises during the elections and forget after winning, that is what happening here in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress leader asserted.

"I heard that a couple of days back, BJP announced a scheme here in Jabalpur. I would ask CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, "What have you done in the last 18 years?"

She also targeted the BJP over alleged corruption in the 'Mahakal Lok' corridor, saying the saffron party did not spare even the Gods. Alleging that the people of Madhya Pradesh are being "used" for the last 18 years, Priyanka said the BJP makes big promises during elections but never fulfils them.

"I have seen several double, triple-engine governments, but people of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka gave a befitting reply to them," she said.

Before addressing the rally, Priyanka performed the Narmada puja at Gwarighat in the city. She was accompanied by MP Congress president Kamal Nath, party general secretary in-charge of the state J.P. Agrawal and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha. She was presented with an idol of Lord Ganesh by local MLA Tarun Bhanot.

The leaders pledged to keep Narmada, considered the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, clean.

Jabalpur is at the centre of the state's Mahakoshal region, which has a significant number of tribal voters. In the 2018 Assembly polls, Congress won 11 of the 13 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in the eight-district division, with the remaining two bagged by the BJP.

People in the Mahakoshal area or Jabalpur division having eight districts feel neglected by the BJP. We did well (last time) in the area. This time around we are going to sweep the polls, said the Jabalpur mayor and Congress' city chief Jagat Bahadur Singh.

Jabalpur was picked for the party's campaign launch as Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra did not pass through this area, according to Congress Rajya Sabha member from MP and senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha.