Bhopal: Shivraj Singh Chouhan was a relative unknown when he became Madhya Pradesh chief minister in 2005, replacing Babulal Gaur, who had assumed the post when his predecessor Uma Bharti resigned in 2004. But this former Lok Sabha member from Vidisha has now become the unquestionable leader of the once faction-ridden Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, in the state. In an interview, the 49-year-old says he wants to return to power on the basis of his government’s performance. Chouhan, who joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, in 1977, says he doesn’t want to raise emotive issues to secure votes in the assembly elections that will be held on 27 November. Edited excerpts:
What are the main issues you are focusing on in the state elections?
Campaign strategy: MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says the BJP is focusing on development issues for the state assembly election. S. Shiv Kumar / Hindustan Times
Public welfare and all-round development of the state are the basic issues for us in these elections. We wish to see Madhya Pradesh achieve national standards of development indices. We want to devote all our energies to the creative good of the people at large.
Your counterpart in Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh, is raising development as a major election issue. You are also saying the same thing. Do you think raising emotive issues does not work any longer?
Since I became the chief minister, I had only one issue to raise: development. I also tried to take each step keeping the welfare and development of Madhya Pradesh (in mind).
The ruling BJP in the state seems to be targeting women voters in a big way. How far will the party be able to win their trust especially at a time when the opposition Congress party is campaigning that women are not safe in the state?
We have worked for the empowerment of the women be it in the shape of promoting girl education, Ladli Laxmi Yojana, Kanyadan Yojana, or 50% reservation in local bodies. I don’t target women as a constituency but because they are the vulnerable half of the population and surely no progress is meaningful without their inclusion. In fact, they have already reposed their confidence and trust in us and it is clearly visible when you tour the state and meet them. We have not done it for votes. Since the day I became chief minister, I had concerns about the (female) sex ratio—it was 917:1,000. It used to disturb me and I thought we should help our society to consider daughters as a blessing (and) not as a curse. It is factually incorrect to say that women are not safe in the state. A sporadic incident here or there seen out of context cannot become basis of such sweeping statements. Women throng my public meetings in large numbers because they feel that there is someone who is working for them sincerely. I have their blessings.