BJP Resorts to ‘Holiday Politics’ Ahead of MP Assembly Election

Bhopal: ‘Holiday Politics’ seems to be the Madhya Pradesh BJP government’s latest resort to garner votes ahead of the Assembly election.

In a bid to appease different sects and communities, chief minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced 12 state holidays in the last four months alone, taking the total number of holidays, including weekends, to 204 in a year—

equivalent to seven months.

The newly announced holidaysare optional or regular, marking the birth anniversaries of warriors, freedom fighters, a queen and seers.

An extra holiday was added to the list on July 2, when Chouhan announced an optional holiday to mark the birth anniversary of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, born on May 31, 1725.

Ahilyabai became the queen of the Maratha Malwa kingdom in 1767 after the demise of her husband Khanderao Holkar and father-in-law Malhar Rao Holkar. The architect of Indore is remembered for making her small kingdom prosperous and building Hindu temples and Dharamshalasacross the country.

The CM has also formed a Maa Ahilya Welfare Board. “A tall statue of Dev Ahilya Bai will be built in Indore and Devi Lok in Maheshwar (180km away from Indore),” he told a gathering of the Pal community in Bhopal on Sunday.

Month-wise holiday in MP

Source: mpinfo

Chouhan also announced a holiday on Maharana Pratap Jayanti to appease Thakurs, who voted against the BJP in the 2018 Assembly election over the April 2 caste violence between the community and Dalits in the Gwalior-Chambal regionthat year and his 2015 caste-basedreservation remark.

The CM announced a holiday on Bhagwan Parshuram Jayantito lure Brahmin voters. Besides, Bhopal Gaurav Diwas would be a holiday to mark the merger of Bhopal Estate with the Republic of India

The birth anniversaries of Sant Ravidas and BR Ambedkar have been declared holidays to woo Dalits; Birsa Munda, Raghunath Shah and Shankar Shah for tribals;and Tejaji Jayanti and Chitragupta Jayanti for Jats and Gupta voters.

Chouhan has also promised to build separate and dedicated corridors and form welfare boards after the names of these personalities.

 The state government, which announced Saturday as a holiday during COVID-19, continued it two years after the pandemic.

Saturday and Sunday alone account for 105 holidays annually with 52 and 53 days, respectively. The government calendar has 25 holidays and 62 optional holidays.

Month-wise holiday(s) in MP

Regular holidays areeither declared by the Centre or the state. Optional holidays allow government officials to either work or take leave.  

By adding 12 new holidays to the list, the number of annual holidays has increased from 192 to 204, surpassing the number of working days for state employees.

An analysis of the state government calendar shows that offices in April were open only for a week as the month had nine optional, four gazetted and 10 weekend holidays. Similarly, in November, government offices will be open only for 11 days as the month has eight optional,three regular and eight weekend holidays.

“In the absence of a guiding principle or framework ondeclaration of holidays, states arbitrarily notify public holidays mainly to appease a section of the population which affects the government’s functioning and service delivery system,”former bureaucratRajendra Kothari told Newsclick.

“Government officials have seven months of holiday in a year while factory labourers have only 10 days, including three national holidays,”he pointed out. “In five months of working, officials often refrain from work due to strikes and are sent to manage political rallies and elections.”  

Holding the Centre accountable while hearing a PIL filed over arbitrary announcements of public holidays by the Union and the state governments, the Supreme Court in January 2021 asked, “What policy framework decided holidays?” 

The petitioner, All India Shiromani Singh Sabha, had said, “In the absence of any guiding principle or any authority regarding declaration of gazetted/public holidays in India, the executive at the behest of political groups who are in power/government declares holidays at its whims and fancies, serving the political purpose of appeasement of a particular section of the public.”

Defending the government, state BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said, “Our officials and bureaucrats are efficient enough for public service. The holidays will improve their work quality and efficiency.”

However, state Congress media-in-charge KK Mishra said, “After the CM’s announcement of 12 holidays, the state might top the list of states with the highest government holidays in the country—almost seven months of holiday in a year.The government works only five months a year. Yetthe chief minister and his ministers say the government works 18 hours daily.”