Cong will return to power in Chhattisgarh: Moily

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily Monday said his party would return to power in Chhattisgarh after a gap of 15 years, riding on a “strong anti-incumbency” wave. He also claimed that the Congress would increase its tally from 12 to 15 of the 18 seats in the Naxal-hit areas of the state. 

“We are definitely returning to power in Chhattisgarh after a gap of 15 years, because there is a very strong anti-incumbency wave against the Raman Singh and Narendra Modi governments in the state and at the Centre,” the former Union minister told PTI here. 

The Congress would win 50 to 55 of the 90 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh, he said, adding, “I will not be surprised if we win even more (seats).” In the 2013 Chhattisgarh polls, the Congress had won 12 seats in the Naxal-hit areas, Moily said. 

“The problems of unemployment, law and order and security of jobs have contributed to a strong anti-incumbency wave against the Raman Singh government (in Chhattisgarh),” he added. 

As many as 37,000 women in Chhattisgarh were reported missing, which reflected the worst law-and-order situation in the state, the former Karnataka chief minister alleged. He claimed that most government jobs in the state were outsourced and that Chhattisgarh was next only to Tripura in terms of unemployment in the country.

Contrary to Chief Minister Raman Singh’s claim of Chhattisgarh being the first state to provide 150 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), in reality, Moily said, the state government gave work for only 47 days. During the Congress rule, the poverty ratio was 37 per cent in the state and now, it had shot up to 47 per cent during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rule, Moily, who is also the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, claimed.

He alleged that adding to Singh’s “misrule”, the people of Chhattisgarh were also unhappy with the BJP-led central government for giving false assurances, the latest being giving Rs one crore loans in 59 minutes to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). “I attended a bankers’ meeting recently, where I asked the bankers whether they had received any circular on Rs one crore MSME loans. They said, no. This is only an election stunt,” Moily said. 

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had also failed to fulfil the promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every citizen in the fight against black money, the Congress leader said. “During the Congress rule, as much as Rs 36,000 crore (black money) were brought back. These people (BJP) are silent today,” he said, alleging that the Centre had not taken a single step to bring back black money.