Chief Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday that Madhya Pradesh should not be infamous for “salable” politicians, but for principled politics based on service.
“We need to protect politics from downfall,” he said at a public event here. “We need to create such an identity of politics that we should be proud of.” When there was a downfall, everyone thought politicians were “salable”, could be suppressed. “But people must say a politician in Madhya Pradesh is not salable. They are into politics based on principles and service. This will invite investment, spurring economic activity,” he said.
His remarks come two days after the Congress said it foiled the BJP’s alleged attempt to woo some MLAs of the Congress, the BSP and the SP, besides Independents. Mr. Nath had backed Congress MP Digivijaya Singh’s charge that the BJP was trying to lure MLAs with crores of rupees.
Mr. Nath asked the public if the State should be known for mafia, the Bhopal gas tragedy, “or that kind of politics that we need to stay away from.”
He said the biggest challenge before the State was to secure the future of the youth. “If their future remains in darkness, how will development in Madhya Pradesh take place. Today’s youth do not want any commission, they want jobs. And this will be possible only when the State has an identity nationwide.” Investment would come to the State, he added, only if people had faith in it. “Our State must not be compared with smaller States, but with bigger ones.”
