"Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai," says former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The BJP leader, who served as chief minister 13 years before his party lost power to the Congress in the recently concluded elections, was speaking here to people from his constituency Budhni two days ago.
"Nobody needs to worry what will happen. I am still here. Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai (Tiger is still alive)," he said, evoking the title of a Salman Khan-starrer Bollywood film.
When a woman in the crowd said he would be the chief minister after five years, Chouhan replied, "May be it will not take five years."
It was apparently a dig at the Congress' tally which is two short of simple majority. With Congress getting 114 seats in the 230-member House, the Kamal Nath-led government is dependent on the support of the BSP, SP and independents.
BJP won 109 seats.
Chouhan, the longest-serving chief minister of the state, won his traditional Budhni seat in the November 28 election.
He hit out at the Congress government Thursday for setting a cut-off date of March 31, 2018 for its loan waiver scheme for farmers.
"I am not asleep but awake. I am keeping a hawk's eye on them (the new government)," he tweeted.
The Congress government has allotted a swanky bungalow to Chouhan, much bigger than houses usually allotted to MLAs. Chief minister Nath defended it by saying that allotment was as per the rules.
The bonhomie Chouhan enjoys with rival party leaders was on display the day Nath was sworn in. A beaming Chouhan was seen sharing stage with Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
