Bijapur:Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said incidents of Naxalite violence have declined by 52 per cent in Chhattisgarh under the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Addressing a rally here, the Union Information and Broadcasting minister also said the Congress dispensation under Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the state was a "government of scams and mafias".
Assembly polls will be held in Chhattisgarh in two phases on November 7 and 17, while votes will be counted on December 3. Thakur's rally was held after former state minister Mahesh Gagda filed his nomination papers from Bijapur (ST) seat, where polls will be held in the first phase. "In Chhattisgarh, incidents of Naxalite violence have declined by 52 percent during Modi ji's government. The Modi government has taken several steps for development of Bastar region," he said.
Thakur said, on the demand of people, news and programmes are being broadcast through Akashwani in Gondi and Halbi dialects (being spoken by tribals in Bastar region), while five FM stations have been approved for Bastar division along with installation of hundreds of mobile towers. Accusing the Baghel government of corruption, Thakur said people of Chhattisgarh are fed up with "Bhu-pay", a term coined by the BJP as a play on the name Bhupesh Baghel and a digital payment system.
Incidentally, during his visit to Raipur earlier this month, Thakur had launched a QR code title 'Bhu-Pay' that takes users to a website containing information about the alleged scams under the Congress government in Chhattisgarh. "The Congress government did nothing except committing scams. There are scams in liquor, coal, sand, and rice. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav committed fodder scam but in Chhattisgarh, Baghel committed corruption in cow dung (procurement scheme) and rice (distribution through PDS)," he alleged.
"People will not allow Chhattisgarh to once again become an 'ATM' of the Congress. People want to get rid of the mining mafia, liquor mafia and transfer mafia active in Chhattisgarh," he said.
