Bhopal: Former BJP MLA Surendra Nath Singh rocked Bhopal Thursday by staging a protest along with local residents at the Roshanpura Square against the proposed drive to remove encroachments in Central Bhopal and over-inflated electricity bills to poorer sections.
With civic body polls six months away, the ex-BJP leader has decided to take up the cudgels with the Kamal Nath government in favour of roadside vendors.
Singh shouted slogans against the Congress government for snatching employment opportunities of thousands by removing their gumtis (makeshift shops) from roads in the heart of the city.
The former BJP legislator from the Bhopal Madhya seat also threatened to spill the blood of Chief Minister Kamal Nath and state’s chief secretary SR Mohanty, if injustice was meted out to the people. “If our demands are not met, blood will be spilled on the roads, and the blood will be of Kamal Nath,” he said.
Singh, the former MLA, who lost to Congress’ Arif Masood this time, also raised the issue of inflated bills being sent to poor people in the Congress regime. “Those poor people who got monthly electricity bills worth Rs 200 during Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s regime are not getting bills worth Rs 20,000," he said.
He urged the people to disconnect the electricity connection of CM House and the State Secretariat in case their electricity is cut over non-payment of bills. He also asked the protestors to beat up those who approach them for collecting inflated power bills.
Speaking to News18, the disgruntled leader justified his earlier statements, saying that he is a member of ABVP since 1978 and has been “fighting for the public with the same aggression.” “I have been jailed hundreds of times for this,” he said.
However, other BJP leaders in the state maintained their distance from the protests and chose not to comment.
Reacting to Singh’s threats, the Congress media cell coordinator Narendra Saluja said the former BJP MLA’s statements and ‘hooliganism’ exposes the true nature of BJP’s politics, which was also recently showcased by BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya cricket bat attack on civic body official in Indore. He further sought to know from PM Narendra Modi whether any action would be taken against Singh for his derogatory remarks.
According to reports, the TT Nagar Police in Bhopal has lodged a case under Section 143 and 188 of IPC against Singh and others for unlawful assembly and staging protests without permission.
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