Bhopal: Jolted by twin losses in recent by-polls, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is trying to make up ground ahead of the crucial assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh due later this year, sources said.
To start with, Chouhan announced to include garlic in Bhavantar Bhugtan scheme recently.
The move was aimed at wooing back Patidars as garlic is the primary crop in Malwa-Nimar region dominated by the community. There is bad blood between Patidars and Chouhan after five farmers were killed when police opened fire during the agitation in Mandsaur in June 2017.
A few days ago, he had addressed senior police officers of the state in a video conference, making it clear to them that deterioration in law and order won’t be accepted and directed them to prevent crimes against women at any cost.
He even threatened to remove Superintendents of Police and Inspectors Generals, in case they fail to check atrocities against women. Following his orders, police across the state have initiated stringent action against rowdies who target women.
Chouhan has also urged public to complain against those bureaucrats who are not attentive in resolving their grievances.
As part of his endevours to woo tribal vote bank and rural masses, he on Thursday sanctioned the grant of 57 crore to be doled out to village panchayats for purchasing musical instruments including dhol, majira and so on through the Department of Culture. The state government said that the move was ‘to spread happiness among the rural masses’.
For accommodate disgruntled party colleagues, Chouhan is expected to expand his cabinet once again to include two MLAs from Indore—one each from BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya camp and another from his rival group led by Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
Besides, Gopilal Jatav, whose name was dropped during last cabinet expansion due to model code of conduct, could also find spot in the cabinet.
Sources said Chouhan is trying to seek support of both Vijayvargiya and Mahajan who are both big of Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh.
He also inaugurated Friends of MP web portal on Thursday. The group is a platform for connecting distinguished residents of MP based outside the state to encourage them to contribute to the progress of the state.
As part of his efforts to gain momentum in governance, Chouhan toured New Delhi on Friday, calling upon senior ministers including Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, and Suresh Prabhu along with others to discuss developmental issues of the state.
Sources said that Congress, by winning both Kolaras and Mungaoli Assembly constituencies in the bypoll, has not only recorded moral victory over Chouhan who led from the front in these polls but also forced him to plug loopholes in governance, policing and caste equations.
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