Shivraj Singh Chouhan calls BJP Guna candidate 'Vibhishan'

BHOPAL: Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sprang a surprise by calling the BJP candidate from Guna as ‘Vibhishan’. In an election rally held at Isagarh in Guna Lok Sabha constituency earlier this week, he called KP Yadav as Vibhishan, which took the BJP candidate by surprise, who was sitting next to him.

In Hindu mythology, Vibhishan is the brother of Ravana, who betrayed the demon king and calling someone by that name is considered derogatory.

KP Yadav is a former Congress leader and was an ardent supporter of Jyotiraditya Scindia, but this time he is in a direct fight with his former mentor.

In his inimitable style, while addressing the election rally in Isagarh, Chouhan first took a dig at Jyotiraditya and then in the same breath called KP Yadav Vibhishan. He said, “Yadavji ko isliye ticket diya taki ye Lanka jala saken” (Yadav has been fielded from Guna so that he can set afire Lanka). Looking at Yadav, the former chief minister then said, “He was with the Congress earlier and that is why I call him Vibhishan”. There was visible discomfort on the face of Yadav and his supporters after they heard Chouhan’s statement.

Guna, which is going to polls on Sunday, is witnessing an interesting battle. Before Jyotiraditya began his campaign, his wife Priyadarshini held a large number of public meetings.

Jyotiraditya has been making scathing attacks on the BJP. On Thursday, he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Scindia alleged that the BJP leaders are all lying. He said that the Modi government failed miserably to fulfil its promises and is busy misleading the people.

Taking a dig at Chouhan, Jyotiraditya said that he got electricity poles and other infrastructure in place for electrification of villages in Guna, but Chouhan as chief minister did not allow them to become functional during his tenure. He then asked people to give an 1100 volt current to the BJP and vote it out of power.