Kamal Nath terms BJP govt's 'LBY' a gimmick, Narottam Mishra hits back

The first day of the budget session 2023-2024 of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly began with the address of Governor Mangu Bhai C. Patel on Monday, following which Speaker Girish Gautam adjourned the session till 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

However, leaders from both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress took on each other outside the House and launched a verbal attack at each other. It began after former Chief Minister and state Congress president Kamal Nath termed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's newly proposed scheme 'Ladli Behna Yojna' (LBY) as a 'gimmick' ahead of the elections.

During a short interaction with the press, Nath said that the Congress will give an allowance to homemakers when it forms the government. He said the promise to give this allowance will be included in the Congress 'vachan patra' (poll manifesto).

Nath said, "CM Chouhan has made announcements amounting to crores of rupees during the past few months but with no concrete plans for implementation. All this is to mislead people. When will the (Ladli Behna) forms come, when will they be filled up, when money will be given?"

Home Minister Narottam Mishra hit back at Kamal Nath over his remarks, saying the Congress has always made fake promises to the people. "Kamal Nath himself engages in theatrics in the name of announcements therefore he sees every scheme as theatrics. We have always done what we have said and the people of the state are witness to this. Kamal Nath did nothing but theatrics during his tenure," Mishra said.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has recently announced the 'Ladli Behna Yojna', wherein married women in the age group of 23 to 60 years and annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakhs will be given cash assistance of Rs 1,000 per month. The BJP government is set to allocate a huge amount of money in its annual budget for this.