Bhopal: The victory of the Congress in Jhabua assembly by-election has a special meaning for Chief Minister Kamal Nath as Congress on it soon has taken its tally of MLAs to 115, just one shot of majority figure of 116. Besides, an independent MLA Pradeep Jaiswal from Waraseoni (Balaghat district), who belonged to Congress earlier is supporting the Congress right from the first day.
This way, the Congress party would now enjoy full majority in the House without any suspicion that the saffron party might take any action to topple the government.
This victory in Jhabua by-poll is the outcome of schemes introduced by the Congress-led State government in past 10 months. Buoyed with party’s victory, Chief Minister Kamal Nath told media persons that people in Jhabua have identified the difference between the BJP and Congress. He alleged that BJP in its 15 years of government only duped the voters of Jhabua.
He further said that there is an atmosphere of despair in the country and voters have expressed faith in the Congress party. When reminded that he had cast aspersions on the exit poll results in Maharashtra and Haryana, the Chief Minister claimed that he had said so because there is an atmosphere of despondency in the country.
The senior leader claimed that if the changes made in Haryana Congress had taken place earlier, the result could have been entirely different. He however added that it was not a proper time for postmortem. When asked to comment that BJP leaders persistently talk about toppling his government in Madhya Pradesh, he hit back saying let them talk whatever they want to but the fact is the BJP itself is facing a slump in states like Haryana.
