Cong govt in MP running transfer industry, claims BJP

The Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government is a running a "transfer industry" to mint money, in the process bringing development to a standstill, former chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed Saturday.

The BJP, which was defeated in the November, 2018 state Assembly polls after a 15-year stint in power, Saturday organised protests in several districts of the state to mark what it claimed was over 100 days of corruption by the Kamal Nath government.

The Congress government headed by Chief Minister Kamal Nath was sworn in on December 17 last year.

"Youth are being cheated. Nobody is getting employment. Development has come to a standstill. Only one industry is flourishing in MP (after the Congress took over) and that is the transfer industry," Chouhan said at one such party protest here.

"In the morning, a person is transferred from Bhopal to Sehore. In the evening, he is transferred from Sehore to Asta. In the evening, he is shifted from Asta to Dewas and at night from Dewas to Ujjain," Chouhan said.

"These (transfers) are not taking place without the greasing of palms. Everything is on sale here," the BJP vice-president alleged.

At several protest sites, BJP workers carried placards that read "Rs 281 crore corruption in 100 days, a record of development".

The monetary figure is a reference to the recent Income Tax searches in several premises of people close to Nath, including his former Officer on Special Duty.

The Income-Tax Department had on April 8 said it had detected a "widespread and well-organised" racket of collection of unaccounted cash of about Rs 281 crore during raids against close aides of Nath and others.

The I-T department had on April 7 launched pre-dawn raids at 52 locations of people and associates linked to Nath by involving about 300 tax sleuths.

The 29 Lok Sabha seats in the state will go to polls in four phases beginning on April 29.