MP: Lunch at Rs 2,000/Plate, Tea Rs 400/Cup; CM Spent Rs 9 Cr on ‘Extravagant’ Events

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government spent over Rs 9 crore between 2014-2018 on social, cultural and religious events, as per the information given out in the Assembly, raked up by the Congress during a recent debate.

Not just social events, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led state government also paid close to Rs 50 lakh for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s brainstorming session -- Lok Manthan in 2016. In addition, Rs 26.62 lakh were spent on the counting day of the 2018 Assembly elections, which were drawn from the government's coffer.

Of Rs 9 crore, the highest amount was spent on religious events or festivals of the majority community, followed by Christmas celebrations and ab Iftar party during Ramzan.

Expenses of major social and political events

Source: Govt reply in the Assembly

In these programmes, the state government offered a range of foods starting from Rs 550 a plate to Rs 2,000 a plate. A lunch for RSS's brainstorming session cost Rs 1,800 a plate to the government. While Iftari cost Rs 1,025 a plate, the dinner organised for Christmas cost Rs 850 a plate.

Top five costliest plates

Govt reply in Assembly

This information came to the fore in reply to a question in the Assembly by Congress MLA Kunal Choudhary in 2019, which sought details of expenses of social and other events that took place at the Chief Minister's house or organised by the Chief Minister's Office.

This information was raked up by the Congress during a 12-hour-long debate over a 'no-confidence motion' by the Opposition on the third day of a five-day long Winter session of the Assembly.

"Tea which costs Rs 10/cup was not served at Rs 100/cup, but Rs 400/cup at the BJP office," alleged Jitu Patwari, former Minister and Congress MLA from Indore's Mau.

"The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government paid over Rs 40 crore on the programmes that took place at the BJP office for the party workers in the last 20 years of the regime."

Patwari alleged in the Assembly: "We present a budget of Rs 1.85 lakh crore, but the debt has surged to Rs 4 lakh crore. The state pays over Rs 50,000 crore only as interest on the loan."

According to the reply, 173 social or political events took place between 2014-2018. Of these, 23 events were organised by the BJP, while 17 were organised by the Chief Minister's office.

The information, replayed by the Congress in the Assembly, alleging misuse of funds during the no-confidence motion, left the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high and dry.

Later, when reporters questioned the Medical Health Education Minister, Vishwas Sarang, over the Congress' allegation, he said the “claims are baseless.”

"Assembly speaker Girish Gautam and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan already clarified in the Assembly that the allegation of spending Rs 40 crore on workers in the last 20 years is baseless," Sarang told reporters. "Some Congress leaders want media attention; therefore, they are levelling baseless accusations in the Assembly and the media," he added.

When reporters sought a comment on Choudhary's question and the government’s reply, which says over Rs 9 crore was spent between 2014-2018, Sarang replied: "It's a half-truth. The truth will come up once you go into the details of the report."

Hitting back at the minister, Choudhary released a video. He said: "On my question, the General Administrative Department replied that over Rs 9 crore was spent on public events and party workers between 2014-2018. Why is the minister calling it baseless? Doesn't he trust the figures presented in the Assembly?"

"It's like the popular proverb Khisiyani Billi Khamba Noche (implying deflecting of an issue due to embarrassment)," he said.

When the issue kicked up a controversy, the BJP on Friday not only issued a clarification rebuffing Congress's allegations but also shared the receipts of Rs 27 lakh paid to the various agencies for holding 23 events.

Addressing reporters in the Assembly on Friday, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra said, "Congress MLA Jitu Patwari used the Assembly as a platform to propagate lies against the BJP and defame the government. BJP MLAs will report it to the speaker and we will demand action against Patwari."

Hours later, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation issued a press release, brushing aside the claims made by Congress leader Jitu Patwari and termed the allegations "baseless". 

Commenting on the issue of spending public money on RSS's event, an irked IAS-turned-politician Ward Murti Mishra, who recently quit his job and floated a party eyeing on 2023 elections, pointed out: "The state is reeling under a massive debt of Rs 4 lakh crore, double our budget. Yet, the state offers tea at Rs 400 a cup and dinner/lunch at Rs 1,800 a plate. This is nothing but a waste of public money."

Coming down heavily on BJP, he alleged: "Officially, the BJP is an event-based party and spends crores of public money on events. The party often organises lavish lunches and dinners to show off their hegemony and aura to the party workers."

Referring to the recent events, Mishra alleged that over Rs 13 crore was spent on PM Modi's Janjati Gaurav Diwas 2021, and Rs 11 crore was spent on the inauguration event of Mahakal Lok Corridor. Similarly, the party spent crores on Cheetah translocation turning into a mega event. On the other hand, many of the pro-public policies are on the verge of closing owing to a fund crunch.

"Holding social events like Holi, Diwali, Christmas or Iftar party is necessary for the Chief Minister. But one should do it keeping the financial condition of the state in mind," he added.