New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): The BJP on Monday said its performance in urban civic body elections in Madhya Pradesh showed that the people had punished the Congress and reposed their faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

In a statement issued here, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief Nand Kumar Patel and vice president Vinay Sahasrabudhe said the party now governs 16 municipal corporations, 42 municipal councils and 123 nagar panchayats in the state.

"The people have put their faith in the chief minister election after election and their faith in him continues. People have punished the Congress for its politics of defamation," the statement said.

It said the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory was also that of good governance and development-oriented programmes of the chief minister.

"Our workers are capable of exposing the Congress. We will give it a tit-for-tat answer," the statement said.

The Congress has been demanding the resignation of Chouhan over the Vyapam scam in the state.

The statement said the BJP government in the state achieved a record 24 percent growth in agriculture and made Madhya Pradesh a frontline developing state.

The ruling BJP on Sunday won the mayor posts in two municipal corporations and those of chairmen in six other urban local bodies in Madhya Pradesh, with the Congress and an Independent winning two others.