Bhopal, Jun 12 (IANS): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday kick-started party's campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections by performing a pooja at the Narmada river and addressing a mega rally.
While addressing a mammoth gathering in Jabalpur district, which is also called 'sansakardhani' of Madhya Pradesh, the Congress leader hit out at the ruling BJP over issues ranging from scams to growing unemployment and atrocities against women and tribals in the state.
"I was surprised to know that Shivraj Singh Chouhan's scam list is longer than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's abuses. In the last 220 days, 250 scams occurred in Madhya Pradesh. This is the development the BJP government brought around in the last three years after toppling the Congress government," Priyanka said.
The Congress leader asserted that corruption affects the life of common people and ruins their future. Political parties make promises during the elections and forget after winning, that is what happening here in Madhya Pradesh. "I heard that a couple of days back, BJP announced a scheme here in Jabalpur. I would ask CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, "What have you done in the last 18 years?" the Congress leader asked.
She also targetted the BJP over alleged corruption in 'Mahakal Lok' corridor saying the saffron party did not spare even the Gods. Alleging that the people of Madhya Pradesh are being "used" for the last 18 years, Priyanka said the BJP makes big promises during elections but never fulfils them. "I have seen several double, triple-engine governments, but people of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka gave a befitting reply to them," she said.
Before addressing the rally, Priyanka performed the Narmada puja at Gwarighat in the city. She was accompanied by MP Congress president Kamal Nath, party general secretary in-charge of the state J.P. Agrawal and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha. She was presented with an idol of Lord Ganesh by local MLA Tarun Bhanot.
The leaders pledged to keep Narmada, considered the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, clean.
Jabalpur is at the centre of the Mahakoshal region, which has a significant number of tribal voters. In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress won 11 of the 13 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in the division, while the BJP bagged the other two.