Parties that allied with Cong invited their destruction: MP CM

Making light of the Congress' efforts to cobble up pre-poll tie-ups in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said the outfits that allied with the grand old party have suffered destruction.

"The Congress is a 'dhokhebaj' (deceitful) party. Those who had formed an alliance with the Congress had invited destruction (upon them)," Chouhan told reporters at Maihar in Satna district, around 450 kms from Bhopal, from where he launched the second leg of his "Jan Ashirwad Yatra".

He was responding to a query on the Congress' efforts to stitch an alliance with the parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) ahead of assembly elections due later this year.

"You must remember that the Congress had pulled down the Chaudhary Charan Singh government within four months and humiliated him. The Congress did the same with I K Gujral and H D Deve Gowda (former prime ministers)," he said.

Chaudhary Charan Singh had served as the fifth Prime Minister of the country from July 28, 1979 until January 14, 1980.

Janata Dal leader Deve Gowda had served as PM from June 1, 1996 to April 21, 1997, succeeded by I K Gujral whose Janata Dal (United Front) government too lasted for barely an year.

Chouhan also took a dig at the recent emotional outburst of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy whose party JD (S) is an ally of the Congress in the southern state.

"Recently, HD Kumaraswamy wept saying he was swallowing poison (like Lord Shiva while running the coalition government). Those having an alliance with the Congress invite their doom. I am not worried about the coalitions but for those who ally with the Congress," said Chouhan who has been helming the state since November 2005.

Before launching the second leg of the Yatra that would cover Bundelkhand, Mahakaushal and Vindhya regions, Chouhan paid obeisance at famous Maa Sharada temple in Maihar.

The first leg of the 75-day Yatra was flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah on July 14 from Ujjain after offering prayers at the famous Mahakaleshwar temple, one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.

Two vehicles have been converted into chariots for the Yatra.

One of the chariots is being used in central Madhya Pradesh, Malwa and Nimar regions which were covered in the first leg of the Yatra, the other chariot is meant for Bundelkhand, Mahakaushal and Vindhya regions.

Chouhan had embarked on a similar yatra ahead of the assembly polls in 2008 and 2013.

The opposition Congress, which has been out of power since 2003, has been trying to forge ties with BSP and SP.

State unit Congress president Kamal Nath had announced that his party was ready to align with like-minded parties, especially the BSP, ahead of polls to unseat the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

He had met BSP supremo Mayawati in Delhi recently.

Samajwadi Party national president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is arriving in Bhopal tomorrow to hold a meeting with the party leaders.

It is likely that he will hold a meeting with Nath during his stay in the state capital.