Rahul Gandhi is a fun machine: MP CM

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday dubbed Rahul Gandhi as a "fun machine" and said he has become a "laughing stock" with his actions, hitting back at the Congress chief who had called the BJP leader a machine making "hollow" announcements.

The chief minister also targeted state Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath, saying "a Raja, a Maharaja and an industrialist are after the son of a farmer" and claimed that Digvijaya Singh's rule from 1993 to 2003 was remembered as "dibbi (a small kerosene tin for light) Raj" due to backwardness of the state.

Addressing a party workers' meet in the poll-bound state, Chouhan, a three-time chief minister, said he would not be bogged down by name-calling by Congress leaders.

"Yes, Rahul Baba I make announcements for bettering the life of the poor and the farmers," he said.

Recalling Gandhi's gesture of hugging the prime minister in Lok Sabha during the monsoon session in July and winking at his party colleagues while assuming his seat, Chouhan said the Congress president has become a "laughing stock".

"Rahul Baba...a fun machine has compared me with a run machine. But, I won't get bogged down by leaders of your party who have called me a juggler and a prostitute," he said at the "Karyakarta Mahakumbh" of BJP workers which was also addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

Chouhan had last month accused Madhya Pradesh state unit Congress president Kamal Nath of calling him a 'madari' (juggler).

The "fun machine" barb came days after Gandhi mocked the BJP leader. Launching the Congress' campaign for upcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi had said on September 19 that Chouhan makes "hollow" announcements at the same pace at which batting maestro Tendulkar scores runs on the ground.

"You all know Tendulkar. Whenever he plays any innings, everybody was assured that he will score at least 50, 60, 70 or 100 runs.

"Here, in Madhya Pradesh, there is a run machine known as the state chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who makes announcements at the same pace," Gandhi had told a public meeting here.

He had claimed that Chouhan had made "21,000 announcements so far, but none of them was implemented". He had also alleged that Madhya Pradesh ranked first in unemployment, rapes, malnutrition and the crime against women.

Countering the Congress' allegations on development, Chouhan said the BJP government has kept its electoral promise of providing uninterrupted power supply in Madhya Pradesh.

He said the irrigation area in Madhya Pradesh has improved significantly in the last 15 years of the BJP rule under him.

"When the Congress was in power (15 years ago), the irrigation area was limited to just 7.5 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh, but now it has expanded to 40 lakh hectares," he said.

Chouhan said the irrigation area would be expanded to 80,000 lakh hectares to ensure wellbeing of farmers in the state.

He also took a dig at Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia, scions of erstwhile royal families of Raghogarh and Gwalior respectively, and Kamal Nath, the Congress MP from Chhindwara.

"A Raja, a Maharaja and an industrialist are after the son of a farmer," he said while referring to himself.