Congress MP Digvijaya Singh has threatened to stage a sit-in protest outside the official residence of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here if the latter doesn’t meet him by January 20 to discuss the problems faced by the people affected by Tem and Suthalia irrigation projects. In a letter addressed to Chouhan on Sunday, Singh claimed that the CM had not been giving him an appointment for the last one month, which he said shows the “insensitive attitude towards the project affected persons and farmers”.

Singh said that he will be forced to stage a sit-in protest with the affected farmers outside Chouhan’s official residence if the CM fails to meet him by January 20. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said that he had written many letters highlighting the plight of the people affected by two dams, but the CM has not replied.

Singh claimed that thousands of acres of land will be submerged while many villages will partially or totally go underwater due to the Tem and Suthalia projects. He said very little compensation was being given to the affected people in Bhopal, Rajgarh, and Vidisha districts. I will bring 15 farmers each affected by the two projects during a meeting with you by following all COVID-19 protocols, Singh stated in the letter.

Madhya Pradesh home minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra on Monday slammed Singh over his claims. “Recently, a hailstorm had hit Madhya Pradesh. Was Singh seen anywhere? He is never visible at the time of a disaster or crisis. MP is witnessing the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. I want to ask whether Singh was ever seen in any hospital distributing food. He used to write letters to former chief minister Kamal Nath and also to the ex-forest minister Umang Singhar,” Mishra said.

He said Singh’s posturing was political hypocrisy. “If he wants, he can always meet the chief minister easily as Chouhan is visiting the affected agriculture fields. He can also inspect the affected crops, Mishra quipped.

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