With hyper-local the mantra, Kamal Nath gets Congress campaign off the ground in Madhya Pradesh

With seven months to go for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, the 76-year-old veteran parliamentarian — the go-to troubleshooter for the Congress and the unchallenged CM face of the party in the state – on Tuesday took one more step towards his ultimate goal by announcing a Nari Samman Yojana. The venue was his long-time turf, Chhindwara.

The Congress leaders claim they have an edge already due to “anti-incumbency” against the Chouhan government as well as anger over toppling of the Kamal Nath government formed after the 2018 elections. (Express)

The Yojana promises a monthly aid of Rs 1,500 to women, and LPG cylinders at a subsidised price to each household, if the Congress comes to power in the state. It is a direct counter to the BJP government’s Ladli Behna Yojana scheme, which promises Rs 1,000 into bank accounts of women of low- and middle- income families.

Before Nari Samman, the other promises by Kamal Nath on behalf of the Congress include loan waiver for over 27 lakh farmers, electricity at Rs 100 for 100 units, return to the old pension scheme (OPS), and an investment of Rs 20 crore to develop Ram Van Gaman Path, covering the areas in Madhya Pradesh where Lord Ram is believed to have stayed during his exile from Ayodhya.

MP Congress leaders said it was a strategy to ensure that the forthcoming Assembly elections will be fought on hyper-local issues, as the party “will not wait for the BJP to build its narrative”.

The Congress leaders claim they have an edge already due to “anti-incumbency” against the Chouhan government as well as anger over toppling of the Kamal Nath government formed after the 2018 elections. The BJP had managed to take away 20-plus Congress MLAs, led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, to regain power three years ago. According to the Congress, it will build on this by “consistently attacking the BJP on local issues”.

Kamal Nath has compared Chouhan to a “machine for making announcements”, and said there is no follow-through on actual implementation of these policies. (Express)

Barring 15 months during which the Kamal Nath-led Congress was in power (from December 2018-March 2020), the BJP has now been in power in the state since 2003.

Congress party spokesperson K K Mishra told The Indian Express: “All the issues we raise will be hyper-local, and Kamal Nathji will be the face of our party, leading the attack against the BJP. He is our chief minister face, and in the new year, we will have a new CM.”

Congress spokesperson Piyush Baghele praised Kamal Nath’s “micro-management”, saying he “studies constituency surveys and speaks to leaders who are seen on a weak footing, asking them to do better”. “He also plays troubleshooter, finding out leaders who have been feuding and asking them to patch up before the rivalry gets out of control.”

He has made 35 visits to constituencies where the party has lost three times in a row, Baghele added. “He hopes to flip these constituencies with the message of inflation, corruption and rising lawlessness in the state.”

Crime incidents are one of the issues Kamal Nath has been raising consistently, including the killing of a tribal youth in police firing in Indore over which the Congress stalled the MP Assembly in March, and the recent daylight killing of six people in Morena.

The Congress has also been raising alleged corruption in the Chouhan government, claiming a scam in the Poshan Aahar scheme, the 90 nursing colleges which were declared fake and derecognised over violation of norms, and the construction of Karam Dam.

The attack on these fronts is calculated as Chouhan has built an image of an efficient CM with well-liked government policies. Preparing for the polls, his government too has been on an announcement spree, with several new government policies unveiled as part of a “Panch Kranti” scheme, to “revolutionise” education, employment, housing, and respect for all sections and classes of society.

Kamal Nath has compared Chouhan to a “machine for making announcements”, and said there is no follow-through on actual implementation of these policies.

Recently, Chouhan and Nath got into a bitter public spat, with the CM questioning the Congress leader over his promises to voters, including bonuses to farmers and milk producers. Chouhan queried Kamal Nath on the fate of the Krishak Kanya Vivah Sahayata Yojana announced when he was CM, to give assistance of Rs 51,000 for marriage of daughters of small farmers.

The BJP has also been underlining Kamal Nath’s long political record as the backroom operator in Delhi – having moved to state politics only in the past seven-eight years or so. “People have an image of Kamal Nath as a politically bankrupt leader,” BJP state spokesperson Ashish Agarwal said, alleging that his scheme announcements were only a way to “gather information from people to misuse it”.