Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh promises to make cities in his state better than America's. [In File: Chouhan addresses during a programme in Bhopal on Dec 4, 2016.]IANS

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently said that his government would make cities in the state better than those in the US.

Congress, however, took a dig at the CM and called his statement 'yet another joke'.

Chouhan's statement comes at a time when Madhya Pradesh is about to go into assembly polls in another four months.

"My brothers and sisters be assured that we will make Madhya Pradesh's cities better than those in America," Hindustan times quoted Chouhan as saying during a state-level function called nagar vikas parv (celebration on development in urban areas) in Sagar on Saturday (July 7).

"Our government has been continuously trying to make the cities modern and we will continue to do so," Chouhan added. The MP CM also said that "cities in Madhya Pradesh would become the cleanest, prettiest and developed in the country in the next five years".

His statements went viral on social media, and the opposition party was quick to mock him.

The president of the Congress's unit in the state Kamal Nath said it was "yet another joke" from the Chouhan, who had earlier said that MP's road as better than those in America.

"When I got down at the Washington Airport and travelled on roads, I felt the roads in Madhya Pradesh are better than the United States," Chouhan had said during his visit to the US in 2017. Back then he had faced flak for this comparison and many pointed out that the roads in Madhya Pradesh were poorly-maintained and potholed.

Citing the CM's earlier comparison, Nath said that Chouhan should first ask people of his state about the condition of the roads after the first rains of lashed MP.

Vidisha Railway Station - Madhya Pradesh
Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta challenged Chouhan to make Vidisha's infrastructure the same as that of Indore's.Wikimedia Commons

State Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta also taunted Chouhan and said that despite the CM having represented Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency five times in a row, the towns there are still in a bad condition, reported HT.

He even challenged Chouhan to make Vidisha's infrastructure the same as that of Indore's and then work toward bringing the condition close to that of cities in the US.