Indore: The former chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan here on Wednesday lashed out at Madhya Pradesh minister PC Sharma for comparing the condition of roads in Bhopal with cheeks of actor-politician Hema Malini and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Expressing his concern over the bad condition of roads in the state capital, the state law minister had said the roads have spots similar to small-pox, like " Kailash Vijayvargiya's cheeks", and their government would make them 'Chaka Chak' (smooth), like Hema Malini's cheeks, in 15 to 20 days.
"How can roads be compared to someone's cheeks? This statement proves the mentality of Congress leaders," Chouhan told reporters.
He also scotched speculations that he was aspiring to be chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan's clarification came a day after Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly Gopal Bhargava addressing a meeting in poll-bound Jhabua said that Chouhan would take oath as chief minister after Diwali.
“It was just part of a poll campaign and it was influenced by the sentiments of people present in the meeting. I don’t find anything wrong in that statement. As far as I am concerned, I do not aspire for any post. My only post is to remain in the hearts of 7.5 crore people of the state and to serve them," said Chouhan.
"If I wanted I could have become the chief minister through manipulation immediately after the 2018 state assembly elections," he added. Chouhan said many people have been demanding since the Lok Sabha elections that they wanted him back as CM.
Chouhan had served as chief minister from November 2005 to December 2018. The Congress had won the last year's assembly polls by a narrow margin, after a gap of 15 years.
Nath ministers eating MP like scavenger birds: Chouhan accused the Kamal Nath-led government of indulging in massive corruption. "One minister decides one amount for transfer of an officer and another one scales it up. Fix one amount,” he quipped.
The ex-CM said that these people (ministers in the Congress government) are devouring Madhya Pradesh like eagles and crows.
Chouhan alleged that there had been massive damage to crops due to excessive rainfall, but the survey work to access the damage had not been started. “If the compensation is not provided to the farmers at the earliest, BJP will launch a campaign against the government,” he added.
Ahead of the Magnificent MP summit, Chouhan appealed to entrepreneurs to invest in the state and generate employment opportunities.
