To Kamal Nath's "Coconut" Jibe, Shivraj Chouhan's "Lock" Retort

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath carries a lock with him to “shut” welfare schemes in the state, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Saturday in a retort to the former's oft-repeated jibe that the CM carries 'nariyal' (coconut) in his pocket to inaugurate projects.

In many of his public addresses, Mr Nath has called Mr Chouhan a 'ghoshana machine' (announcement machine) and a 'shilanyas mantri' (foundation stone laying minister), claiming that the Chief Minister would carry nariyal in his pocket to launch projects.

Ahead of next month's assembly elections, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have sharpened their attacks against each other. Madhy Pradesh will go to polls on November 17, while votes will be counted on December 3.

A statement issued by Mr Chouhan's office accused Mr Nath, who was the Chief Minister between December 2018 and March 2020, of closing many schemes launched by the BJP.

“I carry the nariyal because I work for the development and public welfare. He carries a lock because he works to shut schemes by putting locks on them,” the statement said.

When Mr Nath was at the helm in the state, he closed the BJP government's welfare schemes like providing Rs 1,000 per month to tribal women for nutritious food, cycles and laptops for students, money for marriage of girls and pilgrimage tours for senior citizens, Mr Chouhan said.

Reacting to the Chief Minister's statement, MP Congress' media department chairman KK Mishra said, “Yes, Kamal Nath is taking a lock with him and people will put it on BJP's office in the coming elections.” Mishra said Chouhan seems to have lost his cool ahead of his “farewell” and is trying to divert people's attention from real issues by talking like this.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)