In a visually striking protest amid Madhya Pradesh’s budget session, Congress MLAs marched into the assembly complex clutching empty piggy banks, decrying the state’s escalating public debt under the current administration. Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar spearheaded the demonstration on Wednesday, the third day of proceedings, rallying colleagues against what they term predatory borrowing policies.
The group converged at Gandhi’s statue, holding signs blasting the government’s fiscal mismanagement. Singhar laid bare the numbers: debt now exceeds the budget, with over Rs 5 lakh crore loaded onto the state’s back. “Every citizen feels the pinch,” he said, pointing to relentless loans that have preceded even this session by Rs 5,600 crore.
Dismissing official economic surveys as fabrications, Singhar highlighted the absurdity of reported Rs 15,000-20,000 monthly per capita incomes—figures utterly disconnected from rural and urban struggles alike. He charged that tax revenues are being squandered, with development promises amounting to mere illusions while the common man buckles under inflation.
“The government is feasting on borrowed ghee while the public starves,” Singhar quipped, urging a full disclosure via a white paper. This protest isn’t isolated; it’s part of a broader opposition strategy to expose vulnerabilities in the BJP’s economic narrative ahead of key political battles.
Observers note the symbolism of empty piggy banks could stick in public memory, amplifying calls for accountability. As debates intensify, Madhya Pradesh’s debt trajectory remains a flashpoint in state politics.