Homework | With ‘Ladli Behna’ Scheme, 5 Yatras, Infra Projects, BJP Brings Narrative Back in MP – News18

The BJP feels that it has got the narrative back in its favour in Madhya Pradesh with the ‘Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana’. The party is planning a blitzkrieg campaign to build on the same with five Yatras across the state from September, to cut a record number of tickets of MLAs to opt for new faces, and get key projects inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda will be in Bhopal this week for a review. A top party leader told News18 that the party did seem to be in a state of bother till a month ago but the rollout of the ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ this June has turned the tide towards the BJP and “deflated” Kamal Nath’s promise to give Rs 1,500 per month to women.

Under the scheme, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has transferred two monthly payouts of Rs 1,000 each to 1.25 crore women in the state. He has promised to increase the amount gradually to Rs 3,000. By next month, the government may increase the amount to Rs 1,500 per month for women to match Kamal Nath’s promise, the BJP leader quoted above said.

BJP cadres are being told to take the scheme’s message door-to-door after the party received “positive feedbacks” from the ground with the amount started getting credited to women’s bank accounts, state BJP chief VD Sharma told News18.

Kamal Nath, however, last week told News18 that this was a “last desperate move” by the BJP’s CM in the last 16 years.

Cognizant of anti-incumbency at the local level against its MLAs, the BJP is also set to deny tickets to a record number of MLAs and put up new faces.

5 Yatras, Tomar’s Appointment

BJP is chalking out a plan for five key Yatras across the state from September to be led by CM Chouhan, VD Sharma and Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Singh Tomar. In fact, Tomar’s appointment as the chief of the campaign committee recently has been another “positive development” as he has close connect with the party cadre who see him as a veteran and reliable leader. “The CM also has perfect chemistry with Tomar…the earlier divisions in the party unit due to ‘old vs new leadership issue’ have diminished with Tomar’s appointment,” a senior BJP leader pointed out.

PM to Inaugurate Big Projects

BJP is planning a big ‘bhoomi poojan’ by PM Modi of Sant Ravidas temple in Sagar district on August 12 at the cost of Rs 100 crore. This is being seen as a major outreach to the SC community. The BJP is starting a campaign from July 25 under which soil would be brought from all villages of the state and water will be brought from 350 rivers across the country for the construction of the temple. The CM had announced this project in February; MP has a sizeable SC community.

Another key project whose big-bang inauguration is planned at the hands of PM Modi is the Ben-Ketwa river interlocking project for which one lakh people are expected to arrive with ‘jal kalash’ to take the water back home. BJP believes the project will enhance its electoral fortunes in Bundelkhand as 9 lakh hectares of land will be irrigated through the same and drinking water will be supplied to over 60 lakh people.

The government is also fast-tracking the metro projects in Bhopal and Indore for which it is pushing for the trial runs of trains before the state assembly elections scheduled to be held in November-December.

The Chief Minister is on a ‘Vikas Parv Yatra’ till August 14 to inaugurate or lay foundation stone of various development projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore.