Returning to his constituency after more than two months, former chief minister Ajit Jogi today claimed that at least 16 BJP MLAs are in touch with him. But he fell short of divulging his next move on Chhattisgarh’s political scene.Interestingly though, the man who used to travel with a fleet of at least a dozen MLAs and ministers was joined by only three former MLAs on his birthday. Just a day before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s maiden one-day visit to Chhattisgarh, Jogi arrived here to celebrate his 59th birthday, exactly a year after his near-fatal road accident during last year’s Lok Sabha polls here.Jogi had remained suspended from the party for over three months after he was alleged of involvement in the cash-for-the-MLAs scam. He bounced back into the thick of things by winning Mahasamund and defeating his old rival and former union minister Vidya Charan Shukla.Today on his arrival, Jogi claimed that BJP rule had pushed the state on the brink of crisis and development has come to a standstill. “Today, 16 BJP MLAs wished me on my birthday. I prayed to God to give me strength and good health to relieve the people of Chhattisgarh from their sufferings. The state has been pushed back at least by 10 years in just 16 months of BJP rule”, he declared at a public meeting.His arrival in the town was marked by strong gusty winds and supporters braving the weather to listen to him. Unable to keep himself away from BJP-bashing even on his birthday, he accused the Raman Singh government of cheating people.
