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Tag: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

  • Congress, BJP in Madhya Pradesh spar over ‘Kanya Pujan’

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  The objection of Congress to the Kanya Pujan of minor girls — couple of them wearing saffron turbans — by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the bypoll-bound Raigaon (SC) constituency has kicked up a political row in the central Indian state.

    On Friday, the CM had performed Kanya Pujan of minor girls to mark Dussehra festivities during the poll campaign in Raigaon. Picking up the matter, Congress leader Narendra Saluja had questioned why two girls were made to wear turbans resembling the colour of BJP flag.

    “We don’t have objection to Kanya Pujan, but object to politicisation of the ritual. By making the girls  wear turbans resembling the colour of BJP flag, the CM has politicised the Kanya Pujan. Where is the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which had written to administration for acting against Congress leader Ajay Singh over remarks about children consuming drugs,” Saluja tweeted on Friday. Now the same tweet has been made into a weapon by the ruling BJP.

    “Kanya Pujan is our proud tradition, but the Congress is against it. We will perform it, not once but multiple times,” the state BJP chief said on Saturday. On Sunday, it was the CM’s own turn to target the Congress over the issue. “The Congress leaders are opposing Kanya Pujan by me. Then what shall I do, perform Congress Pujan. Kanya Pujan is our long- standing proud tradition. For me, Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are my sisters, and all daughters symboilise Devis (goddesses),” he said.

    NCPCR has set guidelinesThe NCPCR had in 2017, issued guidelines, banning use of children in poll campaign or related works. It had recently written to Satna district collector to act against senior Congress leader Ajay Singh over his remarks about children consuming drugs

  • MP CM Shivraj Singh opens purse strings for educating ‘Ladli Laxmis’

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday transferred Rs 5.99 crore as scholarship into the bank accounts of 21,550 girls under his government’s Ladli Laxmi Scheme. At the state level Ladli Laxmi Utsav, the CM said education, security, health facilities, self-reliance, prosperity and respect for girls are of the top priorities.

    In the state, he added, the work of economic empowerment of the girl child, giving them vocational training and giving guarantee on bank loans would be done by the government. 

    “Tuition fees will also be arranged for higher education.  An amount of Rs 25,000 will be given to Ladli Laxmi daughters who take admission in the college. All possible cooperation will be provided for development in areas like music and painting,” he announced.

    The benefits of the scheme would be extended for girls without parents or found in a dependent situation will also be given, Chouhan added.

    “Ladli Laxmi Day will be celebrated as a festival not only at the state level but also at the district, block and gram panchayat level. The effort is to ensure that Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Laxmi Yojana becomes a role model.”

    He further said that on the basis of the number of daughters born, Ladli Laxmi friendly gram panchayat/village would be declared across the state.

  • Stories of 38 who cracked UPSC exam from Madhya Pradesh to be distributed among students

    By Express News Service

    BHOAL: Inspirational stories of 38 young minds of Madhya Pradesh who recently cracked the UPSC Civil Services Examinations will be distributed among lakhs of students across the central Indian state, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Wednesday.

    “MP is nation’s heart, but with this record success at the recently declared final results of the UPSC Civil Services Examinations, all 38 of you (the successful candidates) have not only become our pride, but become the heart of MP,” Chouhan said while addressing a grand function in Bhopal’s Minto Hall to felicitate the 38 phenomenal talents.

    The felicitation program ‘Safalta ke Mantra’ which was followed by college and university students interacting with the 38 future civil servants was beamed live to 24 lakh college and university students from across the state, who had registered for catching the event live.

    “The booklet compiling the success stories of these 38 talents has not only been released here today to be distributed among those seated here and among students across the state,” the CM announced.

    “MP till now was famous for being a mineral, forest and water resource rich state, but this record success of our 38 young minds at the UPSC Civil Services Examination has now transformed the state into a talent rich state. All these successful youths have sacrificed some or other of their favourite things/interest to achieve this memorable success. While some quit social media, some others quit watching web series and television and some others made even bigger sacrifices amid tough family situations. All of them are true inspiration for our youngsters across the state,” the CM said.

    Calling upon students across the state to draw inspiration from the record success, the CM said,“All those aspiring to attain great heights should first have self-confidence, then opt for the target of their interest and work on the roadmap to achieve their goals.”

    Appealing to the 38 young achievers, the CM said, “Your priority shouldn’t be to earn, but to serve the nation as you are the true agents of social change and nation building.”

    “There are three types of civil servants, firstly those who are happy carrying on their routine tasks, secondly those who block every work in the name of rules and thirdly those who have the zeal to work and find out ways for public good even in tough situations and restrictions. You need to have the zeal to find ways to further public interest even under restrictions and difficulties,” the CM said.

    Those felicitated, included Bhopal girl and All India Women’s topper Jagriti Awasthi (who was ranked second overall in the final results declared recently).

  • Rs 6 crore in scholarships for 21,000 girls under Madhya Pradesh govt scheme

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Scholarships worth Rs 5.99 crore will be transferred online to the accounts of 21,550 beneficiaries on Navaratri Mahanavami (October 14) as part of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh government’s Ladli Laxmi Scheme. Chief Minister Chouhan on Tuesday reviewed preparations. 

    The programme on October 14 will be telecast on TV and spread through computers, laptops and mobiles in every village to send a message to the daughters and their mothers, the chief minister said. He directed officials to make arrangements for uploading photos, registering feedback and receiving suggestions from all the daughters. In order to improve the scheme, it has been suggested that Rs 20,000 be given to all the girls after passing Class XII, finishing graduation and vocational courses. Ladli Laxmi Diwas should be organised like a festival, the chief minister said. 

    At the time of registration, birth certificates should be issued with a message from Chief Minister Chouhan. The Ladli Laxmi Yojana is a scheme introduced in 2007, which was followed by expansion to six other states — UP, Bihar, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Goa. The scheme lays emphasis on providing good substructure for economic and educational status of the families adopting this and suppresses female infanticide.

  • House that! Only 15 MP MLAs, including CM Shivraj, furnish assets details

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  Twenty months after the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha unanimously resolved that each member of the House will furnish details of their and dependents’ assets/properties and liabilities annually, only 15 of the 227 MLAs have so far done that.

    While Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is among the nine BJP MLAs who have furnished their assets details to the principal secretary of the Assembly, as required, his predecessor Kamal Nath does not figure among the six Congress legislators who have done that.

    The other BJP MLAs to have furnished the details include Assembly Speaker Girish Gautam, health minister Dr Prabhuram Chaudhary and ex-minister Rampal Singh.

    The Congress MLAs who have furnished the details include former parliamentary affairs minister Govind Singh and first-time MLAs Arif Masood and Sanjay Yadav.

    Congress MLA PC Sharma blamed Covid-19 and lockdowns for non-submission of property details.

    “Now that everything is opening up, the details will be submitted before the Vidhan Sabha in next two months,” Sharma said.

    According to informed sources, the BJP members (the party was then in opposition) had suggested then that instead of passing a resolution, a legislation should be passed by the House for the purpose.

    Some lawmakers, in fact, wanted a provision of jail term for those who failed to declare assets.

    However, Vishvas Sarang, who is now the medical education minister, said on Wednesday, “There is no issue in it…The details are also given by all at the time of contesting polls.”

    The 230-member MP Vidhan Sabha currently has 227 members fiollowing the death of three legislators.

    Resolution required lawmakers to file details by June 

    The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha had passed a unanimous resolution on December 18, 2019, which stipulated that every member of the House would furnish to the Assembly details of their and their dependents’ movable and immovable assets by June 30 annually.

  • Major jolt to MP Congress in tribal bastion as ex-minister Sulochana Rawat, son join BJP ahead of by-poll

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Opposition Congress suffered a jolt just four weeks before the October 30 parliamentary and assembly by-polls in Madhya Pradesh, as party’s former MLA Sulochana Rawat and son Vishal Rawat joined the ruling BJP on Saturday late night.

    The development came as a major setback to the party’s prospects in the by-poll to Jobat-ST assembly constituency, which is among the three assembly seats up for by-poll on October 30.

    Sulochana Rawat was a minister in the Digvijaya Singh-led erstwhile Congress government in the state two decades back. He had won the Jobat seat in 1998 and 2008, while son Vishal contesting on Congress ticket had lost from the seat in 2013 to BJP’s Madho Singh Dabar. He finished third behind Congress rebel candidate with over 30,000 votes in the 2018 polls.

    Importantly, the Jobat-ST seat of Alirajpur district has been won by the Congress 11 times, losing only four times since 1951. The powerful Rawat family had successfully contested the seat 9 times, including Sulochana Rawat after her father in law Ajmer Singh — who won the seat seven times in a row between 1967 and 1993. 

    Sulochana Rawat and son Vishal joined the BJP in Bhopal at around 11.30 pm on Saturday after around six hours marathon meeting with saffron party’s top brass in the state, including state CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state party chief VD Sharma.

    The mother-son duo attributed tribal development and welfare centric recent announcements by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government to have prompted their switchover from Congress to BJP. But an audio clip of Vishal Rawat purportedly talking to one of his supporters over the phone about the change of party, suggested that he along with ex-minister mother joined the saffron party following an assurance from top BJP leadership of ruling party ticket in the Jobat by-poll.

    However, when asked by scribes at a press conference at state BJP HQ about whether Sulochana Rawat or Vishal Rawat will be fielded by the BJP in the October 30 by-poll, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan smilingly replied, “you’ll be informed about it soon.”

    As per informed sources, it is union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is behind the mother-daughter duo’s joining the saffron party, which was clearly revealed by the presence of Scindia loyalist cabinet minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon in the evening. Sulochana Rawat has in the past being seen as a Kamal Nath’s loyalist.

    Though Shivraj Singh Chouhan was present at the duo’s BJP joining and also at party’s press conference at state party HQ on Sunday, it’s believed that he is in favour of BJP fielding ex-MLA Nagarsingh Chouhan’s wife Anita Nagarsing Chouhan from Jobat seat.

    According to informed sources in Alirajpur district, the district Congress chief Mahesh Patel (whose brother Mukesh Patel is Congress MLA from Alirajpur seat) is the frontrunner for Congress ticket from Jobat seat and was opposed to Sulochana or her son Vishal being fielded by the party. He would have fielded a rebel candidate had Sulochana or Vishal been given the Congress ticket.

    Knowing well that Congress would deny by-poll candidature to them, Sulochana Rawat and Vishal Rawat joined the BJP.

    Three assembly seats — Jobat-ST, Prithvipur and Raigaon-SC will be up for by-poll along with by-election to Khandwa-Burhanpur Lok Sabha seat on October 30. The by-elections to the three assembly seats and one LS seat were necessitated by death of sitting MLAs and MP. While two of three seats (Jobat-ST and Prithvipur) were held by Congress, the ruling BJP held the Raigaon-SC and Khandwa-Burhanpur seats.

  • Let’s have a race: Kamal Nath throws challenge at MP CM Chouhan to test fitness

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Amid a “debate” over his health, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, 74, has challenged state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is 12 years younger than him, to run a race with him to see who is fitter.

    Nath’s fitness challenge comes in the wake of Chouhan, 62, repeatedly targetting him over his age and health, saying that he was resting in Delhi.

    “There is a lot of debate over my health. Shivrajji is saying that Kamal Nathji is sick and old. Shivraji, I throw a challenge to you, come let us have a race,” Nath, who is also the leader of the opposition, said in a media statement.

    “I did go for my post COVID-19 check up because I had pneumonia – which anyone can have. I got all the tests done. All reports came out good. COVID-19 are of two types – one of short duration and another of a long duration. I faced the long duration one,” he added.

    “I was in Delhi, where I have many responsibilities (of the Congress) to discharge. This does not mean I was in Delhi because I was unwell and resting,” the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.

    A Congress leader said, Nath reached here on Saturday and is scheduled to leave for Delhi on Sunday along with the list of candidates for the October 30 bypolls to three Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency in MP.

    Talking to PTI about Nath’s challenge, MP Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta said, “This is an apt reply to CM Chouhan, who was repeatedly needling Nathji that he has grown old, sick and resting in Delhi. Chouhan should keep in mind that he has been defeated in the 2018 MP Assembly poll race by Nathji.”

    State BJP’s senior leader Deepak Vijayavargiya said, “The BJP runs races for the development and well being of people. But sitting in drawing rooms, the Congress runs races on Twitter and falls. In the October 30 bypolls, people will decide who is the winner. I pray to God for Nath’s good health. He must stay fine after defeating coronavirus.”

    Both – Nath and Chouhan – had contracted coronavirus.

    Chouhan had got infected last year and was discharged in August (last year) from a private hospital here after recovery.

    Nath became the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in December 2018 after the Congress won the Assembly polls that year.

    However, his government collapsed in March 2020 following the resignation of 22 MLAs of the then ruling Congress.

    The government helmed by him lasted only 15 months, after which the BJP came back to power and Chouhan returned as the state the chief minister for the fourth time.

  • Man dying after being set on fire in Sagar: MP government orders CBI probe

    By PTI

    SAGAR: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered CBI probe into the death of a 25-year-old-man who was allegedly set on fire over a relationship with a woman in Sagar district.

    The incident had taken place at Semra Laharia village on the night of September 16.

    “The chief minister has directed CBI investigation into the incident,” Sagar district collector Deepak Arya told reporters on Wednesday.

    Chouhan also told officials that the state government will bear the expenses of the treatment of the 23-year-old woman who sustained burn injuries during the incident, the collector said.

    “The CM has directed us to arrange the best possible treatment for her. She will be shifted to a private hospital,” he added.

    The man and the woman were allegedly in a relationship.

    The woman claimed that he caught fire accidentally when he was trying to set her ablaze after pouring kerosene on her at her house, and her family members tried to save both of them.

    But the man alleged in his `dying declaration’ — statement recorded before death — at a hospital in Sagar that the woman’s family had called him for a `meeting’.

    When he went there, four members of her family poured kerosene on him and set him ablaze, he claimed.

  • Amit Shah urges CMs to give priority to end Naxal menace; seeks joint action to choke flow of funds

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday urged the chief ministers of Naxal-affected states to give priority to addressing the menace so that it can be eradicated within a year and sought a joint strategy to choke the flow of funds to the red ultras.

    Addressing chief ministers, state ministers and top officials of 10 Naxal-hit states, Shah also said that the fight against the Maoists has now reached its final phase and it needs to be accelerated and made decisive, an official statement said.

    He said the death toll due to the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has come down to 200 in a year.

    The chief ministers who attended the meeting were Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), K Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand).

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan did not attend the meeting.

    Their states were represented by either a minister or senior officials.

    The home minister urged all the chief ministers to give priority to the problem of Maoists, also called Left Wing Extremism, for the next one year so that a permanent solution can be found to the problem.

    It requires building pressure, increasing speed and better coordination, he said.

    Shah said it is very important to neutralise the sources of income of the Naxals.

    The agencies of the central and the state governments should try to stop this by making a system together, he said.

    According to sources, intensifying operations against the Naxals, action against their frontal organisations, filling up the security vacuum, choking the flow of funds to extremists and concerted action by the Enforcement Directorate, the National Investigation Agency and the state police were some of the issues discussed threadbare at the meeting.

    Shah said the state administrations should be proactive and move ahead in coordination with the central forces.

    If a regular review is conducted at the levels of the chief minister, chief secretary and the DGP, the problems of coordination at the lower level will automatically get resolved, he said.

    The home minister said the fight against the LWE is now in a crucial stage and the government is optimistic of reducing the menace to an insignificant level at the earliest.

    Observing that the LWE has claimed more than 16,000 civilian lives in the last 40 years, he said there has been a consistent decline both in the violence figure and its geographical spread in the last decade.

    The incidents of LWE violence have come down by 70 percent from an all-time high of 2,258 in 2009 to 665 in 2020.

    The resultant deaths have also come down by 82 percent from a high of 1,005 in 2010 to 183 in 2020.

    The area under Maoists’ influence was also constricted, with the geographical spread shrunk from 96 districts in 2010 to just 53 in 2020.

    The extremists have been pushed to a few pockets, with only 25 districts accounting for 85 percent of the LWE violence in the country.

    The home minister said that without eliminating the LWE, the country neither will be able to spread democracy to the bottom nor will be able to develop the underdeveloped areas.

    “So, instead of being satisfied with what we have achieved so far, we need to increase the speed to get what is left,” he said.

    Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken an important decision to bring down the fixed expenditure of the states on the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

    As a result, there has been a reduction in the expenditure of the states on the deployment of CAPFs by about Rs 2,900 crore in 2019-20 as compared to the year 2018-19.

    “The prime minister has continuously reviewed it and is constantly guiding us all,” he said.

    Referring to several development initiatives taken in the Naxal-hit areas, Shah said the central government has sanctioned 17,600 km of road, out of which 9,343 km has already been constructed.

    To improve telecommunication connectivity in LWE affected districts, 2,343 new mobile towers have been installed and 2,542 additional towers will be installed in the next 18 months.

    For financial inclusion, 1,789 post offices, 1,236 bank branches, 1,077 ATMs and 14,230 banking correspondents have been deputed and 3,114 post offices will be opened within a year.

    For imparting quality education to the youths, special focus is given to the opening of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS).

    A total of 234 EMRSs have been sanctioned for LWE affected districts, of these 119 are functional, he said.

    Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the Centre to conduct a study on how many children from Naxal-hit regions in the country succeed in national-level examinations like NEET and JEE.

    “If our systems continue to bypass these areas, it is not going to help the cause of people of LWE affected areas,” he said.

    Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita demanded that the Centre further improve road connectivity and telecommunication network and set up more Eklavya schools and post offices in the Naxalism-affected areas.

    Maoists are now confined to only two districts — Visakhapatnam and East Godavari — in the state, she said.

    Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Giriraj Singh, Arjun Munda and Nityanada Rai attended the meeting.

    Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Arvinda Kumar along with senior civil and police officers of central and state governments were also present.

  • Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches Jan Darshan yatra ahead of bypolls in three constituencies

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: With an eye on the by-elections to three Assembly constituencies, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday kicked off a Jan Darshan Yatra. The yatra began from the Raigaon Assembly constituency in Satna district. The raigon seat has fallen vacant due to the death of veteran BJP MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri. On Monday, the CM will travel to Prithvipur Vidhan Sabha constituency in Bundelkand region, and later, to the Jobat constituency in Alirajpur district.

    Seats in both Jobat and Prithvipur have fallen vacant due to the deaths of sitting Congress MLAs from Covid-19 complications. On the first day of the Jan Darshan Yatra, the CM travelled to 10 villages, starting from Shivrajpur and ending at Narayanpur.

    ALSO READ | Madhya Pradesh government in a spot over judicial custody death of tribal man​During the 23-km yatra, he held small meetings and interacted with the public. He made various promises including that his government will bring water through Bargi canal to Raigaon by 2023. He also announced the construction of power substations and new roads. Further, the CM announced the construction of a building worth Rs 18 crore for a school in Shivrajpur village.

    He dedicated development works worth Rs 44 crores to the people of Singhpur village. While maintaining that the Savrna Aayog (Upper Caste Commission) has already been announced in the state, the CM said soon the chairperson for the Commission will be decided. Importantly, a few months before the 2018 assembly polls in MP, Satna district had witnessed major protests by general category people against the amendments in the SC/ST Atrocities Act.