Shivraj Chouhan meets Maha, J'khand CM to discuss Garib Kalyan' agenda

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday held a discussion on finer points to be included in BJP's Garib Kalyan Agenda with his Maharashtra and Jharkhand counterparts.

Besides Chouhan, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe was also present at the meeting at the chief minister's residence in Bhopal.

"Talks of 'garibi hatao aur garib kalyan' (eradicate poverty and welfare of the poor) have been going on in this country for years. Congress had come up with the slogan but it has remained a slogan and nothing has happened," Chouhan told reporters after the meeting.

"Several states are running various schemes for poverty alleviation and we were given the task of studying them and bringing parity among them so that the development of the poor happens in its real sense," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states to work in a "mission mode" to make their respective states models for the execution of the Centre's schemes, following which a committee comprising Chouhan, Fadnavis, Das and Sahasrabuddhe was formed to prepare the agenda.

"We will submit our report to the BJP president and to the Prime Minister on the issue after which the party will finalise the agenda," Chouhan said.

"The country will be celebrating the (birth) centenary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (founder of Jan Sangh) on September 25 and the report will be submitted before it. The party's national council, scheduled to be held at Calicut in Kerala will then deliberate on it that day," he added.

"The basic aim of the agenda is to ensure that the poor gets food, cloth and house and their earnings increase and they become self-dependent. We have deliberated on all the aspects of these issues and would submit our report soon," Chouhan said.