Amid growing clamour to remove him as the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief, Arun Yadav today said he is focused on his job and will continue with 'Janvishwas Padyatra', covering every constituency of the state, to "expose BJP's tall claims".
"I have completed seven phases of Janvishwas Padyatra and the remaining three are underway. I am focused on my job and exposing BJP government's tall development claims by touring villages on foot," Yadav told PTI from Shamsabad in Vidisha, home district of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
He claimed that people in Vidisha are afraid of BJP leaders' clout in the area, especially corruption.
"They are crying for basic facilities like power, water and roads and are forced to migrate to Bhopal and Indore for livelihood. The government has totally ignored them which is a matter of serious concern," Yadav alleged.
"After traversing through villages like Sherpura, Peepli, Vishwakhedi, Bandia, Rampur, Karrakhedi and Moodra and on the basis of my interaction with the villagers, I am of the opinion that people in Chouhan's home district are craving for 'BJP se Azadi' (independence from BJP)," he claimed.
A section of Congress leaders, including in-charge Leader of Opposition Bala Bachchan and former Union Minister Aslam Sher Khan, have openly demanded to replace Yadav with senior leader Kamal Nath.
Khan had also announced to float a parallel body projecting Nath as its Chief Ministerial candidate in case Congress failed to do so in next few months.
Yadav, the only Congress leader after former Chief
Minister late D P Mishra to cover the Assembly constituencies on foot, said he will cover all the 230 constituencies of the state as a part of his 'Janvishwas Padyatra'.
Launched on October 18, 2015, the 'Padyatra' has so far covered Anuppur, Ujjain, Mandla, Shahdol, Raisen, Balaghat, Tikamgarh districts under seven phases and will cover Vidisha, Bhopal, Umaria, Damoh and Panna in the remaining three.
A total of 23 Assembly constituencies, including nine ST and three SC, have been covered far.
Asked about the current state of affairs in the state Congress, party MLA Jaivardhan Singh said, "Arun Yadav was made the state party president by top Congress leadership. As long as he is there, I am with him and would continue to work for strengthening the party."
The son of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh also said, "It is for the party leadership to take a call on the issue of replacing Yadav. I am with anyone whom the party appoints as the state president.
