‘Can we be so selfish?’ Shivraj Chouhan’s comeback on Opposition’s ‘one-man show’ barb

Under fire from the Opposition for running a ‘one-man show’ without a cabinet, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the decision was taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chouhan further said that he would consult the party in this regard after the first phase of lockdown is over on Tuesday.

“When I took over as the CM, corona was the biggest challenge. Hence, the party decided against formation of the cabinet,” he said in a video clipping released to the media on Monday evening. Chouhan took oath as the chief minister on March 23.

Notably, former chief minister Kamal Nath and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha in the past couple of days questioned the propriety behind the CM not forming his cabinet for such a long time and ‘running a one-man show’.

In a letter to President of India on Saturday, Tankha even demanded imposition of President’s Rule in the state if the chief minister is unable to form his cabinet.

Tankha said in the letter, “Alternatively, if the chief minister is unable to form his cabinet because of issues beyond his control, then a case of breakdown of constitutional machinery will be self-evident in the state of Madhya Pradesh, warranting the Union to consider the imposition of President’s Rule in the state.”

On his part, while citing the reason behind not forming his cabinet, Chouhan attacked former chief minister Kamal Nath for “doing nothing” on his part to fight coronavirus.

Chouhan said, “Kamal Nath in his press conference said Rahul Gandhi had warned the government against the threat of corona on February 12. Kamal Nath remained the chief minister till March 23 but he did nothing.”

Chouhan asked, “Can we be so selfish to stop work right now if there is no chance of continuation in the chair of CM after some time?”

“The fact remains,” he said, “No preparation was done in time. The problem was overlooked. The necessary arrangements were not made. There was no concern over safety of people. It was all because there was no compassion for people.”

The CM said, “I called up Kamal Nath between February 20 and 23 and requested him to take necessary steps as pandemic of Covid-19 was looming large. But the then government did nothing. Who is responsible for the situation in Indore and Bhopal?”

Chouhan said, “When I took over only 7 tests were being conducted in a laboratory but today the number of laboratories has gone up to 7. We are conducting 1080 tests in our labs. But we are not dependent on only our labs. We are getting tests done in other labs in the country too. Then, the number of testing kits and PPE kits was insignificant. Now, we are manufacturing 5,000 PPE kits daily on our own and we have 63,000 PPE kits right now. There was no facility for isolation in hospitals but today there are 23 hospitals only for Covid-19 patients. There are 4,000 beds for these patients.”

Kamal Nath’s media coordinator Narendra Saluja, meanwhile, said, “Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should also tell people as to what he and the central government were doing when Covid-19 was spreading in the country. Is it not true that the Central government was waiting for toppling of the elected Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and this was the reason even parliament session was not adjourned? The moment BJP toppled the Congress government lockdown restrictions were imposed in the entire country.”

Saluja said, “Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should come out with all the facts and documents as to when he issued ordered for PPE and testing kits and what are the measures he undertook and also when to protect the state and also Indore and Bhopal. He should also make it clear as to why Madhya Pradesh under his leadership became one of five worst affected states in the country and why Indore became one of the worst affected cities in the country as far as Covid-19 positive cases and death of such patients are concerned.”