While the BJP is going with collective leadership in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election and not projecting the sitting Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as a chief ministerial face, Mr. Chouhan, in a telephonic interview to The Hindu, said that he will discharge whatever duty he will be assigned by the party. Calling the BJP as the most disciplined party, he said the party can make its Union Ministers and MPs to contest election as here everyone follows the orders of the high command. Excerpts:
If BJP gets majority, will we see Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the next Chief Minister?
The Bharatiya Janata Party works on the basis of collective decision. Here, things are not confined to one family like in Congress. Whatever the top leadership of the party decides, every worker follows it. I am also an ordinary worker of BJP and it is my duty to discharge the responsibilities given to me by the party,
Do you think fielding MPs and Union Ministers in Madhya Pradesh is a useful election strategy?
See, BJP believes in transparency in politics. Clean politics is our identity. Elections are a celebration of democracy and the BJP has preserved the beauty of it. The party directed and everyone is in the fray. All I can say is that BJP is the only party that can ask its MPs and Union Ministers to contest Assembly election and no other party can do this. Such is the discipline of our party.
You are the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for almost two decades. You think anti-incumbency can be a spoiler for BJP this time?
People sitting in Delhi talk about things like anti-incumbency. You come to Madhya Pradesh and you will find that there is only pro-incumbency for the BJP. I am getting a lot of love from people. The women of M.P. and I have become brother and sister and for children, I am their Mama (maternal uncle). It is my pledge to upgrade the lives of people of M.P.
The Ladli Behna scheme has given an added popularity to you among women. What more do you have planned for women in future?
We started with Ladli Lakshmi in 2006 so that the daughter does not become a burden but a boon. Most people consider daughter’s wedding as a burden and hence would not let her come into this world, so we came up with Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah Yojana. Then we also gave 50% reservation to women in the civic body elections. Madhya Pradesh was also the first State to give 30% reservation to women in police recruitment. Now, we have given 35% reservation in all government jobs to daughters while it is 50% in teaching jobs.
There is a whole series of such works. In 2017, I started giving ₹1,000 to my Baiga, Bhariya and Seheriya sisters (three tribal communities that have considerable population in M.P.) and its results were great.
I believe a woman will never waste money, so when money comes in her hand, she uses it for her family’s benefits, especially in improving the nutrition of their children. If a woman has money, her self-confidence and self-respect increases. On February 28 this year, I decided to bring Ladli Behna on floor and launched it on March 5 and after applications and their scrutiny started giving money from June 20. Today, 1.32 crore sisters are getting benefited from this scheme and their lives have really changed. Even in their homes, the standard of behaviour towards them has changed. They get more respect and their opinion is valued. And many sisters have started small businesses with the money like buying a sewing machine, starting a tea stall or a fruit-vegetable cart. We have brought it till here, now our further plan is to make every sister in Madhya Pradesh a lakhpati. This means that she will at least have an earning of ₹1 lakh a year or ₹10,000 a month. We have started doing this with the help of self-help groups. There are 53 lakh women in M.P. with the self-help groups and about 15 lakh of them have become lakhpati and are earning ₹10,000 a month. Now, I want to make every sister a lakhpati, who earns more than ₹10,000 a month, becomes self-dependent and financially empowered, and they don’t have to beg anyone. Why should they cry or beg in front of anyone? We will work hard and live a respectful life. So, this is our step for the future.
So, the Ladli Behna will become lakhpati behna.
Yes, she will.
Farmers, especially in Bundelkhand, are in distress. There are attempts both by the Centre and State to solve water crisis but will farm loan waiver, as promised by the Congress, can be in place if BJP government comes to power?
Since Independence, Congress has ruled the country and Madhya Pradesh for many decades. It is well known that the previous governments have meted out step-motherly treatment to Bundelkhand. They only tricked our people in the name of development. Today, when we have a double engine government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we got the gift of Ken-Betwa Link Project for the people of Bundelkhand which will solve the water crisis, especially agricultural, and will bring prosperity in the lives of farmers.
As far as farm loan waiver is concerned, we are already doing it. When we came to power, we had paid around ₹2,200 crore as loan waiver of farmers. In the last 3 years, the BJP government has given approximately ₹3 lakh crore in the accounts of farmers through various schemes. It is the BJP under PM Modi that gives ₹12,000 to farmers as Samman Nidhi.
Congress has lied to the farmers about loan waiver but never did it. They have actually made the farmers defaulters. BJP is the party that has increased the respect of farmers.
What are your promises to the youth in M.P., because for the last several years there have been repeated and unabated case of question paper leaks in the State. What action has your government taken to stop this? Do you have any future plans in this regard?
We do not just make promises, but also fulfil them. Youth are the future of the country and we have made many efforts to ensure employment for the young population. We have started Mukhyamantri Sikho-Kamao Yojana (learn and earn scheme). There are schemes like Udham Kranti, launched for the youths.
For paper leaks, we have also adopted complete transparency in the examinations and there are clear instructions for strict action against those found guilty of such acts. We hold exams in cases of paper leaks and getting it investigated by judicial commissions.
Apart from development, Hindutva has also become a major issue in M.P. elections. How you see it?
Hindutva is not an election issue for us but it is a matter of our faith. We are contesting elections only on the issue of development. It is the Congress that works to defame Hindutva, sometimes by insulting Sanatan Dharma, and sometimes by calling Lord Ram imaginary. We are just presenting our stand because Congress believes in appeasement politics by spreading confusion.
You are speaking a lot about women security in your rallies and also how that women will not be safe if Congress comes to power. Why do you say it?
We have seen the 1.25 years of the Congress government in which Kamal Nath ji had banned the schemes for the benefit of sisters and daughters. They deprived my Baiga, Bhariya and Sahariya sisters of nutritious food as the disbursement of money of ₹1,000 meant for them was stopped. Congress even raises questions on my Ladli Behna scheme. Recently, a Congress leader, in a rally, was threatening the women working with the self-help groups that if they will not vote for Congress, he will starve their children. “Wo bole ghar ka choolha nahi jalne denge (we will not let you cook food in your house).”
