Shivraj Chouhan to launch civil disobedience campaign against MP Govt

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said he will launch a 'savinay avagya' (civil disobedience) campaign against the ruling Congress over "non-fulfilment" of its promises made to people of the state.

The senior BJP leader made the announcement during the conclusion of his two-day 'Janata ki Adalat' (people's court) held at Nasrullaganj tehsil in Sehore district, which falls in his constituency Budhni. A large number turned up at the people's court to highlight their various problems, including inflated electricity bills, non-waiver of farm loans and issues pertaining to women self-help groups.

In Chouhan's presence, some people also set afire their 'inflated' power bills and said they will not pay them till the Congress-led state government does not fulfil its promise of reducing their electricity usage costs from Rs 200 per month to Rs 100 per month.

"Farmers are getting highly inflated electricity bills running into thousands of rupees, which is totally unjustified," Chouhan said addressing the gathering.

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"We will form a committee for resolving these issues by holding discussions with the officials concerned, and if no solution is found, then we will start the 'savinay avagya' protest," he said. Citing a case, he said farmer Jahar Singh was given a loan waiver certificate but when he approached the bank, he was told that he would have to repay the amount.

Chouhan also raised the case of another villager who claimed to have received an electricity bill of Rs 26,000 recently, while earlier (during BJP government) he was incurring a cost of Rs 200 per month. The senior BJP leader demanded compensation for farmers whose crops were damaged due to excessive rainfall and said he will fight for their rights.

He spent the night at the people's court and also cooked 'baati' (hard unleavened bread) with farmers and sang bhajans (religious songs). Meanwhile, taking a jibe at the BJP leader, state Congress president's media coordinator Narendra Singh Saluja said, "If Chouhan had taken care of people during his 13-year-rule and held such people's courts earlier, he would not have to cook baati or sing bhajans today."

"When he was in power, he did not bother about people, but after losing it (power), he started remembering them," Saluja remarked.

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