Anti-incumbency in MP is \'figment of imagination\': Shivraj Singh Chouhan

NEW DELHI: Locked in a fierce battle to return to power in the state for a record fifth time, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has claimed that all the talk about “anti-incumbency” was just a “figment of the imagination”.

Claiming that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent Bharat Jodo Yatra, which had passed through his state, “lacked any impact”, the Chief Minister, speaking exclusively to this newspaper, said the Congress was “peddling fake narratives” and the people of the state “will think twice before voting for them again”.
With the Assembly elections due later this year, Chouhan is betting big on employment generation in the state and on women voters. MP has a total of 5,39,87,876 voters, including 2,79,62,711 male voters and 2,60,23,733 female voters.

Speaking to this newspaper, Chouhan stressed on the schemes like “Laadli Lakshmi” and “Laadli Bhawna Yojna” to woo women voters. “It’s our endeavour to provide financial independence to women,” the CM said.

“I feel grateful for the affection showered by women constituents of the state. Their support has been a driving force for me in bringing a behavioural change in society for women’s empowerment,” he added.

As unemployment has emerged as a major cause of concern across the country, the chief minister claimed the state has a target of providing employment and self-employment opportunities to more than 2.5 lakh youth per month. The Chief Minister has also targeted the major vote bank of government employees by hiking their DA and providing jobs on “compassionate grounds” for the kith and kin of government employees.

The Chief Minister has also taken up a “Vikas Yatra” to connect directly to the people of the state. Claiming MP has made “rapid progress” in the economic sector, the chief minister asserted that Madhya Pradesh “is now a ‘future-ready state’ for investors”.