Bhopal: Terming Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan a ‘reincarnation’ of tribal freedom fighter Tantya Mama (Bhil) could not have been better timed than this when the ruling BJP under its tribal outreach is remembering the tribal icons and their contributions.
Agriculture minister Kamal Patel on Monday termed Chouhan a reincarnation of Tantya Bhil while addressing a public gathering in Khargone during Gaurav Yatra.
“According to our religion we believe in rebirth. There was one Tantya Mama in 1842 and now there is another Mama in the form of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The tribal freedom fighter was known as Tantya as he was lean and thin and our CM also has the same physique and is called Mama,” said Patel.
Drawing a parallel between the two, Patel said, “Tantya used to hold marriages of girls then and now the same is being done by our Mama”. “Tantya used to loot the rich to help poor people but our Mama does not loot. He taxes the rich people and distributes it among the poor. There are many similarities. Therefore one can believe that Tantya Mama has taken rebirth in the form of Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the welfare of the state,” said Patel. The video of the agriculture minister reincarnation remark has gone viral on social media platforms.
Ridiculous, height of sycophancy, says Congress
The BJP minister's reincarnation remark has kicked up a row. The Congress flayed the BJP minister for comparing the CM with the Tribal icon and calling the latter a ‘lootera’
“Icon of tribal community is compared to Shivraj. This kind of comparison is ridiculous. He is terming Tantya Mama as a lootera (robber). Shivraj also taxes the rich… this is the similarity? This is highly condemnable and the minister and the BJP should apologise for his statement,” said media coordinator of Congress, Narendra Saluja.
Convener of Jay Adivasi Yuva Sanghathan (JAYS) and Congress MLA Anand Rai said that the comment by the BJP minister was the height of sycophancy. “It was because of sycophants that the country was enslaved. Same elements will lead to rot in the 2023 assembly elections,” tweeted Rai.
