MP Government Cashing In On Vajpayee's Death To Win Assembly Elections in The State

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is facing 15 years of anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh has been quick to cash in on the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to regain the voters’ trust months before assembly elections in the state.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made a slew of announcements in the memory of Vajpayee and has been organising condolence meetings at the panchayat level and village level from August 22 to 30 across the state. Moreover, the government has also immersed his ashes in all prominent rivers of the state including the Narmada.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government which has been facing heat over farmers' protest, Vyapam Scam, unemployment, failure in law and order, corruption and so on, is seizing the demise of Vajpayee and using his goodwill to reach out to the voters in the poll-bound state.   

Speaking in a rally days after his death, CM Chouhan declared the renaming of the first and only airport-like private railway station of India– Habibganj after Vajpayee; inclusion of his biography in the state government’s school textbooks from the next academic session; and three national-level awards of worth Rs. 5 lakh each, for poetry,  journalism and good work in administration.

Vajpayee had a deep connection with Gwalior as he was born in the city and completed his education there. The Madhya Pradesh government has planned to transform Gorki Government Higher Secondary School, Gwalior, where Vajpayee had studied from Class 6 to Class 8, into a "centre of educational excellence". This centre would have smart classes, a planetarium, and a museum.

A medical college in Vidisha, the constituency which had once sent the former PM to the Lok Sabha, will also be named after Vajpayee. Besides, the state government has also decided to build world-class libraries and incubation centres for start-ups dedicated to Vajpayee in the seven smart cities being developed in the state — Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Sagar and Satna.

Not just these, CM Chouhan had also announced to build two memorials ‘Smriti Van’ in Bhopal and Gwalior to showcase his works, writings — especially his poetry — speeches, and memorabilia.

After Vajpayee's funeral, the chief minister had said that the condolence meetings for the former prime minister will be organised at all the BJP district headquarters from August 22 to August 25, and at all development blocks and gram panchayats between August 25 and August 30.

However, the state government’s desperate efforts went astray when Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla accused the BJP of cashing in on her uncle’s death for political gains ahead of assembly elections in the state.

Talking to media, she said, “I’m stunned and pained to see the way BJP is trying to use the name of Atal Ji after his demise for political gain.”

Karuna Shukla, a former BJP MP from Jangir-Champa in Chattisgarh, quit the saffron party ahead of 2013 assembly elections in the state and joined the Congress in 2014. “In the past ten years, the BJP never thought of Atal-ji and now in view of the assembly polls in four states, the party is trying to cash in on his death by using his goodwill to regain voters’ trust,” she said.    
BJP’s first Prime Minister Vajpayee passed away at the age of 93 at the All India Institute of Medical Science in Delhi on August 16.

Justifying its stand on Vajpayee, Madhya Pradesh BJP convener and media relations in charge, Anil Saumitra said, "Is there any harm if any political party uses an opportunity to name its initiatives after the recipient of the Bharat Ratna like Atal ji ahead of elections? If the initiatives are for people's welfare, then they should be welcomed. The objective should be aimed at development, welfare and positivity. And if these aims are not achieved, then it is wrong."

However, the opposition Congress sees this move as "opportunism". Coming down heavily on the BJP and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson K.K. Mishra said,"Vajpayee had been ill and bed-ridden for the last nine years. How many times did Shivraj Singh Chouhan visit him during his many visits to Delhi? By naming awards, renaming the Habibganj Railway Station in Bhopal and many other initiatives after Vajpayee, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister has been trying to gain mileage in the upcoming state elections."
 
He further said, “Even if just the last five years of the BJP's 15-year rule in the state was considered, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government did nothing on the development front. Instead, there has been a rise in corruption, lawlessness, and crime in the state. This is nothing but opportunism," he said.

Saumitra refuted Saxena's charge, saying: "A lot of development has taken place in the state in the last 15 years in various sectors. As the latest announcements will add to it and it is meant for the people's welfare, it should not be politicised for the sake of politics.