Assembly polls, Dalit turmoil kept Madhya Pradesh in news

Bhopal, Dec 19 The Congress raged to power in Madhya Pradesh after 15 years, while vicious challenges over weakening of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act kept the Hindi heartland state on tenterhooks amid 2018.

The state witnessed hectic political activity before the Assembly polls which closed with a nail-gnawing complete when Congress, after a see-saw fight with the BJP, rose as the single biggest gathering, with five seats more than the BJP.

Nine-time Lok Sabha member Kamal Nath turned into the chief minister and hours in the wake of assuming responsibility, reported a homestead farm loan waiver, a poll guarantee of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, expected to cost Rs 50,000 crore to the state exchequer.

Nath faces the test of putting the state economy, having borrowings of around Rs 1.60 lakh crore, back on track.

The year saw a misfortune for the BJP as its longest serving chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was unseated.

In pre-survey studies, Chouhan rose more famous than Nath and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia yet this did not enable the BJP to hold control in spite of it getting 41.02 percent cast a ballot as against Congress' 40.89 percent in the state polls.

Till now, a party securing less vote share than its opponent never came to control in the state.

In the run-up the polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tended to 10 public meetings in MP between November 15 and 25, while BJP president Amit Shah tended to 15 open gatherings and held street appears.

On November 25, Shah faltered and fell while landing from a vehicle amid his street appear in Ashok Nagar locale, however gotten away safe.

The state saw brutal dissents in April after the Supreme Court on March 20 "weakened" arrangements of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, deciding that administration workers ought not be captured without earlier endorse and private subjects as well, can be captured simply after a request under the law.

Opposing the verdict, a few Dalit bodies called for a nationwide strike in which fierce occurrences and barricades of streets and rail tracks were accounted for from a few states.

Six people were executed in Madhya Pradesh amid the bandh which saw conflicts among police and dissenters and occurrences of fire related crime.

It led to the birth of a new political party called 'SAPAKS'(Samanya Alp sankhyak Pichda Adivasi Varg Kalyan Samaj), which stashed 0.4 percent cast a ballot in the state polls, affecting prospects of other parties' candidates.

A few months before the surveys, Chouhan's turn to accord Minister of State (MoS) status to five diviners drew sharp analysis from the Congress. Chouhan attempted to legitimize his activity, saying it was was aimedatroping in all sections of society for public good.

The seers had before reported that they would take out a 'Narmada trick yatra' to uncover debasement in the waterway neatness drive.

Later, Swami Namdeo Tyagi, the so called godman prevalently known as Computer Baba, surrendered as MoS, blaming Chouhan for not satisfying his promises.

In January, previous Gujarat boss pastor Anandiben Patel was appointed the state governor.

February brought uplifting news for the Congress when it held both Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats in bypolls.

In June, ranchers turned out on lanes in a few sections of the state looking for gainful cost for their deliver.

Former Union Minister Arjun Singh's significant other Saroj Kumari (83) petitioned a local court in June seeking action against her son and then Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh, who lost his traditional Churhat seat in the November assembly polls.

Vyapam trick, a multi-crore recruitment and admission racket, also kept the state in news.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh documented a dissension in a court claiming that indicting offices CBI and others were securing then boss clergyman Chouhan, Union priest Uma Bharti and cops in the trick.