Trying to wash his sins: Kamal Nath slams Shivraj Chouhan's welfare schemes

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress state chief Kamal Nath on Monday slammed the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government in the state, saying the latter is only trying to wash his sins away by implementing new schemes.

In an interview with NDTV, Kamal Nath came down heavily on the welfare schemes announced by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, saying, "Actions should speak louder than words."

"He remembered sisters and farmers 18 years later. Why did they need to make these announcements five months ahead of the elections? He is trying to wash his sins of 18 years," he added.

Kamal Nath, who served as the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry from 2004 to 2009, drew a parallel between the election guarantees of the Congress and welfare measures introduced by the BJP government in the state.

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"When we talked about providing relief to common people, we didn't have elections in our mind. We will be delighted if Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces a gas cylinder at Rs 500. And I have heard he will make that announcement soon. After our announcements, he is thinking of cylinders and women," he said.

"When we said we would give Rs 1500, he said [Shivraj Singh Chouhan] he would give Rs 2,000. If they do it, it fulfils our goal as our goal is not votes, but people's welfare," he added.

Riding high on its Karnataka victory, the Congress has announced "election guarantees" for Madhya Pradesh, identical to those it implemented in the southern state.  

"Congress' promise to the people of Madhya Pradesh. Gas cylinder: Rs 500; 1,500 per month to every woman; Electricity: 100 units waived, 200 units halved; farm loan waived; old pension scheme will be applicable. We kept our promise in Karnataka - now we will keep it in MP," the party had said in a tweet.

The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003, except for a break between December 2018 and March 2020 when the state had a Congress government under Kamal Nath.

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Five states - Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram - will be going to polls in November-December this year. Out of the five states, the BJP is in power only in Madhya Pradesh and is running an intense campaign to oust the Congress government in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana.