New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra kickstarted the Congress campaign for the Madhya Pradesh elections on Monday by hitting out at the BJP over issues ranging from scams to promises of jobs.
At the rally in Jabalpur, Priyanka said the BJP regime has given only 21 government jobs in the state in the last three years. Alleging that the people of Madhya Pradesh are being “used” for the last 18 years, Priyanka said the BJP makes big promises during elections but don’t try to fulfil them. “I have seen several double, triple-engine governments, but people of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka gave befitting reply to them,” she said.
She further said the BJP’s list of scams is longer than the number of insults Prime Minister Narendra Modi has uttered for the Congress, in a reference to the latter’s remark during the Karnataka election campaign warning people against ‘fake guarantees’ by the Congress.
Priyanka hit out at the collapse of ‘Saptarishis’ installed on the Mahakaleshwar temple premises in Ujjain city, saying the “BJP has not even spared Gods”. The Congress party had alleged corruption on BJP’s part, saying that the ruling party “didn’t keep even the sacred Mahakal away from its loot”.
Priyanka performed the Narmada puja at Gwarighat in the city. She was accompanied by MP Congress president Kamal Nath, party general secretary in-charge of the state JP Agrawal and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha. She was presented with an idol of Lord Ganesh by local MLA Tarun Bhanot.
The leaders pledged to keep Narmada, considered the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, clean.
Jabalpur is at the centre of the Mahakoshal region, which has a significant number of tribal voters. In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress won 11 of the 13 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in the division, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged the other two.
Jabalpur mayor and Congress’s city chief Jagat Bahadur had earlier told news agency PTI that before addressing a rally at Shahid Smarak, Priyanka will garland a statue of Rani Durgavati, who attained martyrdom fighting the Mughals. He also said that two lakh people are expected at the rally.
“People in Mahakoshal area or Jabalpur division having eight districts feel neglected by the BJP. We did well (last time) in the area. This time around we are going to sweep the polls,” he claimed.
The elections are expected to be held by the year-end.
Agencies

KR Desk