A horse, parrots and crows dominate MP bypoll campaign
A horse, parrots and crows — stories around them have become the centrepiece of the politically bitter bypoll campaign in MP.
At his rallies, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tells the story of a dacoit and his horse and another one of parrots to impress upon voters how they should reward the BJP government’s model of development and not fall for Congress. Jyotiraditya Scindia of Congress is citing the cawing of crows to illustrate CM’s entire Cabinet camping in Kolaras and Mungaoli, the two seats in Scindia’s Lok Sabha constituency going to polls on February 24.
“BJP is keen to snatch at least one seat from Congress. Even if we can reduce the victory margin of Congress from 2013 on these seats in their stronghold, the absence of any anti-incumbency against BJP will stand proved before the November polls,” a senior BJP leader told ET.
“The CM and his 40 ministers are all here after four years of indifference. Someone is sitting on one tree branch, another one is on another tree branch — aur sare din bas kayen (and all day cawing like a crow),” Scindia tells voters in his rallies. He has been campaigning largely alone but senior state leaders will put up a united front on the last day of campaigning on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Chouhan is citing the story of dacoit Khadag Singh and a horse which he tried to steal from a farmer by pretending to be a destitute and asking for a ride. “The farmer told the dacoit to take away the horse but not tell the incident to anyone as people would otherwise lose faith in helping a person in need. If you do not vote for the development that I have brought, people will lose faith that development brings votes. That faith should not go.”
The CM also tells another story, about how a hunter tried to catch parrots with a net, to illustrate how voters should act smart and not get caught in the “Congress net”. He has accused Scindia of not taking “any interest” in the development of Kolaras and Mungaoli despite being a multiple-term MP from Guna.
