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National conclave on “Chhattisgarh at 25: Shifting the Lens”
Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah on 08 February 2026 addressed the National Conclave on the book “Chhattisgarh @ 25: Shifting the Lens,” published by Bharat Prakashan. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Shah said the organizer always has put forth India’s prime ideals with firmness in the field of English journalism and unveiled many dimensions of it before the people. It is a coincidence that the President of the European Commission recently said that when India succeeds, the task of making the world stable, prosperous, and secure gets done spontaneously.
Stability, prosperity, and security are three very important words for a nation or a state. For a state like Chhattisgarh that was created after the independence, these words bear a special significance. When the movements for Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand were carried out, the nation had Congress governments ruling for a long period. They used to dismiss these movements, saying that the opposition had no issues; therefore, they were propping up these movements. But when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, he decided to take the risk for the sake of the fulfilment of the aspirations of the people, and it was decided to create these states.
These states created during the NDA government have no contestations among them, but rather they complement each other. But the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana created during the UPA regime left so much bitterness that washing it away took a decade. There are still many disputes that lie unresolved.
In politics ideology has a significant role. Therefore, Mahatma Gandhi said that politics without ideology is unethical. A party without ideology can do no good to a nation or a state.
Earlier, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand were among the BIMARU states. But today they are on the verge of becoming developed states. The reason was that for a long period these states enjoyed the BJP governance. Even this is related to ideology.
After independence our nation has been ruled by three ideologies: the Congress, the BJP, and the Communists. A day will come when the statisticians will have to put forth the statistics of the performance of these ideologies before the people of the nation. I have studied it thoroughly, and among all the ideologies, the BJP has performed the best, and no one can deny it. The BJP has set many standards in good governance. Chhattisgarh, which was seen as a state plagued by Maoism, is one of the best examples of it. In its 25 years, 18 years were under the BJP government and the rest under a Congress government. After 25 years it is becoming a developed state, and Maoism is becoming traceless. This has been made possible by the BJP governments.
BJP Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh pivoted Chhattisgarh into different dimensions of development. He too fought against Maoist ideology and controlled it as much as he could and pulled the state out of the status of a BIMARU state. During the period 2000 to 2025, there has been a 30-fold increase in the state budget of Chhattisgarh. No state can match this record made in 25 years. In per capita income it has jumped 17 times and GSDP 25 times. All 16 indicators of a state’s economic condition have been ticked. On average, 22 spikes have taken place in these 16 indicators. It is a very big achievement.
In these 25 years the state has doubled its irrigated area. There has been a threefold increase in Kharif and a sixfold increase in Rabi crops. The growth has been leveraged to increase the standards of living. There were only 7 district hospitals, and this has now reached 30. There was one medical college, and there are 16 of them now. There has been an 18 times increase in the number of Anganwadi Bhawans. No other state can match this record. On the 25th year of Chhattisgarh, I know that this state, which is the maternal home of Prabhu Shri Ram, is going to be auspicious for the entire nation.