Days after visiting home minister Amit Shah praised Rakesh Singh, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief and a Member of Parliament, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has set about projecting himself as a tough taskmaster by holding several meetings focused on governance, reminding officers that the state should be a model of good governance.
Shah was in Jabalpur on September 18 for Balidan Diwas in the honour of Gond tribal king Shankar Shah and his son Kunwar Raghunath Shah who were prosecuted by the British for participating in the 1857 mutiny.
A day after the event, Chouhan met governor Mangubhai Patel, which the Congress leaders said was an “unusual” meeting. The CM said the meeting was held to discuss the development schemes.
On Monday, he chaired a meeting of Indian Police Service and Indian Administrative Service officials in districts where he said, “I will rate the officers on their work. We have to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. The state should be a model of good governance and any officer failing to discharge their duties will be penalised.”
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He also asked the officials to take strict action against mafia and also in cases of irregularities and corruption.
During the Balidan Diwas event, while Chouhan was also present, Shah was all praises for Singh, the organiser. “On whose invitation I have come here and one who is truly leading the way, our Rakesh Singh ji,” Shah said. He repeated this at two different functions, make it clear that he was present on the Jabalpur MP’s invitation.
At the event, the CM spoke in detail about tribal welfare and announced that Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area (PESA) Act will be implemented in a phased manner.
“The CM was trying to prove something to Shah,” said a senior BJP leader, who didn’t wish to be named.
Experts see this as an assertion by Chouhan to show to BJP high command that he was in control and he was a popular mass leader.
Political analyst Girja Shankar said, “Amid speculations of change of guard, the CM is looking at an image makeover. He is trying to connect emotionally with people. Reports of scams and irregularities in government is hurting his image and that’s why he is trying to be a hard taskmaster.”
Congress lawmaker and spokesperson PC Sharma said, “During the visit of the home minister, the CM was so tense and desperate that he organised six programmes in day to impress him. He is under pressure as he has failed to maintain law and order and crime against women. Nothing is going to happen with this image building, BJP will lose 2023 assembly election.”
BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal, however, said theirs was an organised party and any decision of change is accepted by one and all unlike Congress, where it leads to infighting.
