Opposition parties can’t fight ‘superhuman’ Modi alone: Shivraj Chauhan

Gwalior: Commenting on Patna Opposition Meeting, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday slammed opposition parties, saying that they are coming together as they cannot fight the electoral battle against "superhuman" Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone.

The opposition parties are unable to match the work Modi has done on the ground, he said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most popular leaders in the world. Wherever he goes, people greet him with love and pride (unki jai jai hoti hai). You have seen this in the US."

"The opposition parties cannot match his development and welfare initiatives and the work he does on the ground. People wonder how can one person be so complete and hence I say Modiji is a superhuman," he said.

Asked about the challenge in his state posed by the Congress, buoyed by its victories in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, Chouhan said his party's roots in the state were "very strong" and the BJP will win more than 200 seats in the assembly elections.

On his promise to scale up the monetary benefit from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000 for a selected category of needy women under the 'Ladli Behna' scheme, the CM said the financial condition of Madhya Pradesh was "sound" which will enable his government to keep its promise.

Under the scheme, women aged between 23-60 years will be given Rs 1,000 per month with certain riders, including that they are not income taxpayers and their families' annual income is below Rs 2.50 lakh annually.

"This 'Ladli Behna' scheme did not start today. We started with the 'Ladli Laxmi' scheme for the girl child after we saw that the sex ratio in Madhya Pradesh was skewed with 912 females as compared to 1000 males.

"We wanted to ensure that a girl is not killed in the womb and hence we started schemes that empower the girl child and also the women. We have decided to empower our sisters as much as we can," he said.

Chauhan said Madhya Pradesh was the "first state in the country" to ensure 50 percent reservation for women in the elections of the local bodies.

The CM said he will ensure that all his promises are met and are continued.

He accused the Congress, the main opposition party in the state, of "deceiving" the people, saying the party made at least 900 promises during the last assembly polls but did not keep even one.

With inputs from PTI