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To protest against non-disbursement of compensation to hailstorm hit farmers in the state, star perform of the Congress and candidate from Guna constituency Jyotiraditya Scindia has decided to wear a black arm band during his entire election campaign.
He has also decided not to accept garlands during any of his public meetings to protest against ruling BJP government's apathy towards farmers and non-disbursement of compensation.
Addressing a public meeting here in this small village 30 km away from Guna district headquarter, Scindia convinced the farm community voters that he had personally met the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that farmers of Madhya Pradesh had been badly hit by torrential rains and hailstorms.
Acting on his demand, Scindia said, the Prime Minister immediately sanctioned an amount of Rs 500 crore.
But he said and alleged, "The amount of compensation has not been disbursed to any of the farmers as state ministers are siphoning of this money. And which is why I have decided I would not accept any garland and in protest against the fake sympathy expressed by the state chief minister, I would be wearing a black arm band during the entire election campaign."
He stressed that despite his being a Union minister he was surveying each and every hailstorm-hit field to known the magnitude of the problem but the degree of state government apathy was so high that not even a 'Patwari' (low rank revenue staff) had turned up so far in any of the affected areas.
Coming down heavily on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan Government Scindia said, Chouhan Government was inserting advertisements regularly in newspapers to express fake sympathy towards farmers but it was propaganda to gain popularity.
He alleged, "each advertise campaign does cost Rs 200 crore per day. So far they have spent Rs 1400 crore in advertising this propaganda of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The stark reality is that no farmer has received any compensation so far even the compensations against the losses of soyabean crop have not been disbursed."
Scindia also claimed that he had ensured proper connectivity of roads and trains in the Guna region and said now a small Hata station had 46 trains a day against only two trains few years ago.
"Besides," Scindia further said, "a new fashion designing institute is coming up at nearby Haripur village with an investment of Rs 125 crore where youth of the area would shape their career and dreams. He also said a spice park has also been set up in his constituency so that farmer see spices grown in the local area can be exported."
The senior Congress leader also claimed that state government had failed to ensure even single point power connections to the poor people of the region but his efforts have ensured powers to 72,000 people.
"I made additional efforts to make sure that poor people of the area should have power connections. Under Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification scheme thousands of people have now power connections," he said.
The Congress candidate had the other day, during a campaign in nearby Shivpuri town, challenged Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to prove him wrong on the issue of sanction of a medical college in Shivpuri district.
"If Chouhan proves me wrong, then I will leave politics at this moment but if he is wrong then he should immediately resign from the Chief Minister's post," an angry Scindia had said.
