The Madhya Pradesh Congress on Monday alleged that a storm is brewing within the Mohan Yadav government. State Congress President Jitu Patwari and Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar claimed that during a review meeting held at the Chief Minister's residence on Sunday, Minister for Public Health Engineering Sampatiya Uikey told Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state BJP chief Hemant Khandelwal, and several state party functionaries that Minister for Scheduled Caste Welfare Nagar Singh Chouhan is a "liquor dealer" and that she cannot coordinate with him.
Background of the Allegation
Sampatiya Uikey is the minister in charge of Alirajpur district, and Nagar Singh Chouhan also hails from the same district. Taking a dig at the situation within Mohan Yadav's cabinet, state Congress President Jitu Patwari shot a letter to the Chief Minister on Monday. In the letter, Patwari said, "The report card of your government's ministers in Madhya Pradesh is no longer being revealed in closed-door review meetings, but rather through public outrage, the displeasure of MLAs, and questions raised within your own government."
Review Meeting Details
On Sunday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state BJP President Hemant Khandelwal held performance review meetings with 20 ministers of the government. The ministers were called one after another for the review meeting. It was during this meeting that the alleged statement was made.
Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar took to social media and claimed, "In a BJP meeting, minister-in-charge Sampatiya Uikey said, 'Nagar Singh Chauhan is a liquor dealer, we cannot coordinate with him.' This means that ministers in the BJP government are now openly accusing each other of being involved in the liquor trade. This is the true performance report card of BJP ministers." Singhar further questioned, "Now, the question to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is, will any action be taken against the minister (Nagar Singh Chouhan) after this statement, or is mafia rule and alcoholism the new norm within the BJP?"
Congress President's Letter
PCC Chief Jitu Patwari's letter to the Chief Minister also alleged, "On one hand, your minister in charge is admitting that Nagar Singh Chauhan's liquor business in Alirajpur is raising questions about coordination and governance. On the other hand, in Indore, the country's first 'water-plus city,' people are crying for water, and even BJP MLAs are skipping public events to express their anger over the water crisis situation."
Patwari wrote that this is not an opposition allegation but the truth emerging from within the state government. "You are asking ministers how many nights they stayed in districts, how many meetings they held, and how many workers they met? But the public is asking how many homes are receiving water, how many daughters are safe from the fear of alcohol and crime, and how many youths' futures are protected from addiction."
The state Congress President said that the truth is that the BJP's system of governance has collapsed. "Coordination has collapsed. Administrative control has weakened. Public trust has been shattered. Therefore, stop this drama of ministerial reviews. Public anger is the true report card of your government," he wrote in the letter.
