NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh Congress on Wednesday upped the ante against the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government by staging protest led by leader of opposition Umang Singhar, who carried a tea kettle to the Assembly premises. He said that the gesture was intended to highlight rising unemployment and in what he alleged was the state government’s failure to deliver on its promises.
“Youth are unemployed in the state. What will they do for their daily bread? They will have to sell tea under compulsion,” Singhar said. He accused the BJP of breaking its promise to create two lakh jobs, adding, “I want to say that the BJP promised 2 lakh jobs for the youth, why the government is unable to provide that? Doctors, SIs, teachers are not being recruited. The government should tell what it is doing?”
The protest was part of a broader protest by Congress MLAs during the winter session of the state assembly. Holding bowls and placards, the legislators accused the BJP government, led by chief minister Mohan Yadav, of pushing Madhya Pradesh into a financial crisis. According to Singhar, the state is burdened with loans, with each citizen facing a debt of Rs 52,000. “When the leadership is weak, debt becomes a burden and people suffer,” he said.
Singhar had also criticised the government’s failure to fill vacant posts, provide fertilisers to farmers, and deliver on its promise of Rs 3,000 monthly payments to beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna scheme. “The BJP has failed to provide even the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy and wheat promised in its manifesto,” he added.
The Congress leader called the BJP’s actions “a betrayal of the state’s future,” accusing the ruling party of mismanaging resources and neglecting development. “The government wants to take loans but doesn’t want the state’s economy to be strong,” Singhar said.
Meanwhile, the BJP had dismissed the Congress protests as a political stunt. Madhya Pradesh BJP President VD Sharma claimed the “double-engine government” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yadav had brought prosperity to the state. “By running away from discussions in the Assembly and blocking bills, Congress is betraying farmers, youth, and women,” Sharma said.