BJP stages protests against Chhattisgarh government's 'failure' to deliver on promises

The BJP Saturday staged a protest at all the district headquarters in Chhattisgarh, accusing the Congress government of failing to deliver on promises made during the Assembly polls last year. Former chief minister Raman Singh, former ministers Brijmohan Agrawal and Rajesh Munat and a large number of party workers took part in a demonstration at Budhapara in Raipur.

Singh said the Congress government’s performance in the last six months was “shameful”. “The BJP ruled for 15 years and lived up to peoples’ expectations with full honesty and commitment. Chhattisgarh which was once considered a ‘Bimaru’ (sick/backward) state became one of the few developed states,” he said.

“But the Congress has completely failed to meet the expectations and live up to the trust with which they were handed over the power,” he alleged.

The party won the election by making false promises and now it is betraying people, Singh said, terming the Congress regime as a “government of robbers”.

“Transfers and postings (of government officials) have become an industry, the power surplus state has plunged into darkness, farmers, unemployed youths and women have been left high and dry,” the former chief minister said.

His government had almost finished the Naxal menace, but now the rebels’ presence was being felt even in urban areas and Naxal sympathizers were said to have become part of the government machinery, Singh alleged.

State BJP chief Vikram Usendi and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Dharamlal Kaushik took part in protests in Kanker and Korba districts, respectively. The Congress said the only purpose of the protests was to “show off its (BJP’s) role as opposition.”

“The protest was a complete failure as the main opposition party failed to attract support. Even BJP workers believe that basic amenities such as power supply, water supply, roads and sanitation have improved,”Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said.

“BJP workers themselves seem satisfied with fulfillment of promises like hike in minimum support price for paddy, slashing of power tariff and loan waiver by Congress and therefore they did not came out in support of the protests,” Trivedi claimed.