Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Political parties have undertaken campaigning for by-elections to the 28 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh in full swing. However, the circumstances under which the election is going to take place has affected the level of politics being played out.
The declining level of rhetoric is being seen across both parties, as prominent leaders from both the BJP and Congress are frequently using objectionable language against their counterparts.
Leaders in Madhya Pradesh are not shying away from spitting out venom and crossing all political limits in the wake of the election season. Even in election rallies, the leaders of Congress and BJP are splattering muck at each other in their speeches.
What makes the situation worse is the fact that these statements are not coming from small leaders, but from the top leadership of BJP and Congress in the state. The war had begun with the ‘traitor versus loyalist’ narrative; but as Navratri approached, it quickly transformed into a battle of ‘Ram versus Ravana’.
In this politics of allegations and counter-allegations on electoral platforms, leaders have even gone to the extent of making personal attacks against each other.
The statements that created a political ruckus
Attacking Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, Congress leader Dinesh Gurjar in Morena said that the CM comes from a hunger-stricken household. Political temperatures soon soared after Gurjar’s statement.
Read: MP: FIR against Congress leader over jibe at CM Chouhan
BJP's National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya then went on to call the two former Congress Chief Ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh as “Chunnu-Munnu”.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, who had earlier described himself as a tiger, then went on to call himself a black crow while targeting Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh during a meeting. Scindia said that he was a black crow and Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh better watch out for him.
Congress leader Jeetu Patwari, while targeting Jyotiraditya Scindia, described his entire family as traitors.
‘CM Shivraj should go and start acting’
Even Kamal Nath was not to be left far behind in this war. Kamal Nath, who had once described Shivraj Singh Chauhan as unworthy and useless, asked the CM to quit politics and act in Bollywood.
On the other hand, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra raised questions on Kamal Nath's youth and old age. Narottam Mishra said that Nath talked about being young in every meeting, which in itself was evidence of his old age.
Read: Kailash Vijayvargiya's 'Chunnu-Munnu' dig at former Digvijaya, Kamal Nath
No end to controversial statements
While Minister Kamal Patel called Kamal Nath a villain, BJP leader Mohan Yadav went two steps ahead and called for burying all protests in the ground. Apart from the above, Arvind Bhadoria, Sajjan Singh Verma, Kunal Chaudhary, Premchand Guddu and many other leaders crossed political limits.
Increasing immorality in MP's limited politics
Madhya Pradesh is known for leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Kushabhau Thakre, and Shyama Charan Shukla. These leaders still rule the hearts of people with their style of political oratory. They roared and thundered, but at the same time exercised restraint, tolerance and courtesy towards their political rivals.
However, the same is not visible in the political heavyweights of present-day Madhya Pradesh, where immorality in the limited politics is increasing rapidly.
In the lust for power, objectionable statements are being made freely by leaders resulting in political intolerance and complete loss of ‘dignity’.
Read: Is this my fault if I belong to royal family?: Scindia to Cong
