 "Randeep Surjewala")
Congress leader and general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday said that a race was going on among senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Madhya Pradesh to avoid contesting the upcoming assembly elections.
The ruling BJP has declared 79 candidates for the elections till now, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.
"The BJP has run short of candidates in MP and its big leaders are in a race to avoid being in the fray. While fleeing from the battlefield, they are asking each other to contest the polls," Surjewala was quoted as saying by PTI.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia schemed to push the Union ministers who are their arch rivals into the poll fray, said Surjewala, adding, "the Chouhan-Scindia duo have scripted a movie titled "Hum To Dubenge Sanam Tumko Bhi Le Dubenge [We are drowning, we will take you along].
Kailash Vijayvargiya, fielded from Indore, has said he had no desire to contest the election, the Congress leader noted. "Thus, portraying himself as a big leader, he has disrespected the people. Now the people would teach him a lesson," Surjewala said.
Chouhan's innings as chief minister was coming to an end in the next 15 days, he added.
The Congress leader also slammed the state government and home minister Narottam Mishra over the rape of a 12-year-old girl in MP's Ujjain. Mishra, who takes offence at attires of Mumbai film actresses and film songs does not notice the rape survivor's cry, he said.
