A row erupted in Madhya Pradesh on Monday after Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ambrish Sharma criticised his own government, accusing state officials of inaction, bias and of ignoring him and his constituency, The Indian Express reported.
Sharma, a first-time MLA representing the Lahar Assembly seat in Bhind district, organised a protest against the state government but later called it off.
Speaking at a public gathering and during the protest about the alleged neglect of Lahar, Sharma said he and residents of the region “feel helpless and neglected”, the newspaper reported.
Sharma claimed that “the people and the MLA are now orphans”.
“Both of them are before god and the party,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “To our own chief minister [Mohan Yadav] and our party…I request that the Lahar constituency not be subjected to injustice.”
The MLA accused officials of failing to act against illegal encroachments and irregularities despite repeated complaints, the newspaper reported. He also alleged that influential persons were being protected while action was delayed or avoided.
“The officials should not mistake our patience for weakness,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “I am a cultured MLA of a cultured party… You people aren’t even worth a single puff – if I blow, you’ll end up flying all the way to Pakistan.”
After Sharma’s comments triggered a row, the BJP’s state unit spokesperson Ajay Singh Yadav told The Times of India that the protest was “about a Congress leader who is protecting the illegal mafia and our MLA is fighting against him”.
He added that Sharma’s allegations were directed only at a section of officials. “We know how the Congress shields and patronises leaders linked with the mafia,” the newspaper quoted Yadav as saying.
The BJP has also claimed that members of the Scheduled Caste community in Lahar have been protesting against Govind Singh, a close ally of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, for allegedly encroaching on land used as a pathway to several habitations and villages in the region, the newspaper reported.
The Congress, however, dismissed the allegations.
Mithun Ahirwar, a spokesperson for the party’s state unit, said that Govind Singh is “considered a senior and respected leader not just by the Congress but in the political arena”, The Times of India reported.
“The charges levelled by the BJP MLA [Sharma] are not being taken seriously even by his government and party,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “The officials he is making the allegations against were posted by the BJP government.”
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