The Madhya Pradesh elections are not just about a political fight between the two big parties — Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is about key issues of governance.
As a result, there is pressure on candidates of both the parties to speak on issues such as employment, housing, land rights, agriculture and infrastructure development.
The State is plastered with hoardings of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claiming that roads have improved, power supply is better and farmers and industrialists are happy compared with the Congress regime that ended in 2003.
The Congress is trying to give more space to its campaign leader, Union Minister for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia.
As a result, instead of trading major allegations against each other, these leaders are busy “exposing” the each others’ failures.
One of the claims of the Congress is that the State Government, by not implementing Central schemes in a proper manner, did not do justice to the people.
“We are focusing on the fundamental issues of development. There has been very shoddy implementation of the Centre’s flagship schemes. This has been an inefficient Government, a corrupt Government. People of this State will vote out this corrupt Government and bring in a development-oriented Government,” Scindia told Business Line .
The BJP, on the other hand, is focusing on agricultural production, which, it feels, has set a new record.
“Governments so far did not focus on agriculture. Our understanding is that industry and agriculture should go hand-in-hand. We could successfully make agriculture profitable by investing in improving irrigation and increasing the minimum support price. We reduced the interest for farm loans. Last year, our agricultural growth was 18 per cent. Next year, we will have a budget exclusively for agriculture,” says State BJP President Narendra Singh Tomar.
Addressing a motley crowd near the Gwalior Fort, Chouhan says: “Now my focus will be on small- and medium-scale industries. I will ensure that young people in the State get proper technical education and easy loans to start their own ventures,” he said.
Sceptics, however, are concerned about the State’s future.
“The issues of tribals are still a cause of concern. The implementation of the Forest Dwellers’ Act was incomplete here. The Government could not add any value to a number of schemes for tribals,” says A.P.S. Chauhan, a professor of politics at Jiwaji University.
“Unlike neighbouring Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, we did not have any movement for the backward classes, dalits or adivasis,” he added.
According to P.V. Rajagopal, convenor of Ekta Parishad, land is a major issue.
“Governments and parties should decide who they are standing for – the land mafia or the landless. Land reforms are still an unfinished agenda. Local governments are not functioning. We hope both BJP and Congress address such issues,” he adds.
Mohan Jatav, a cobbler, who had to pay Rs 3,000 to the authorities to set up a small shop in the town, said middlemen were the main problem for the poor.
“Both Chouhan and Scindia may be good people. But both BJP and Congress are not concerned about our lives,” he says.