Barely five months after its victory in the assembly polls, Congress miserably failed to continue its winning streak in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP’s decision to field Malegaon terror attack accused Pragya Singh Thakur against former chief minister Digvijay Singh helped the saffron party polarise the voters which the Congress could not counter. Its development plank was not enough to counter the Hindutva card.
Almost all exit polls predicted that the BJP will win 24 to 28 seats out of the 29 seats and Congress two to four. A day after the release of exit poll results, BJP has asked MP Governor Anandiben Patel for a special session of the state assembly, saying that the Kamal Nath-led Congress government doesn’t have a majority.
With Congress party’s humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha polls, BJP may step up its efforts to destabilise the state government there. This is not the first time that the Congress government is facing such hardship. BSP supremo Mayawati has already threatened to pull support. The focus now shifts on how Congress will survive BJP’s attempt to unseat its government.
Of the 230 seats, Congress, with two veterans Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh and Young Turk Jyotiraditya Scindia heading the party’s campaigning, won 114 seats, while the BJP secured 109 seats in the assembly elections held in December last year.
Nath’s government came into being with the BSP and independents’ help, bringing an end to BJP’s three-term rule.
Nath began his term with the announcement of loan waivers for farmers within a couple of hours of taking the oath. Out of the 55 lakh farmers who were marked beneficiaries for the loan waiver, 23 lakh were covered before the Model Code of Conduct came into effect.
Nath also declared a slew of sops, including a reduction in electricity bills to Rs 100 for consumption up to 100 units; rise in the amount of kanyadaan (financial assistance to the brides of poor families to Rs 51,000), weekly holiday for policemen and Rs 4,000 stipend for the unemployed after an apprenticeship. About 17,000 families were provided lentils under the poverty-alleviation scheme. Other backward classes were granted an additional 13 per cent reservation in government jobs.
Despite these sops, Congress was targeted by BJP for poor implementation and lacklustre performance. The opposition BJP also attempted to put the Congress government in trouble over delays in implementation of the loan waiver scheme.
The Congress could not convince the electorate of the benefits of NYAY while the BJP worked hard to effectively market Kisan Samman Yojana wherein Rs 6,000 is to be deposited in the accounts of small and medium farmers annually.
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 "Pragya Singh Thakur (left) and Digvijay Singh")
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