A pregnant woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district has reignited a demand for a motorable road to her remote village, drawing a controversial response from the local Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) MP, who suggested she be shifted to a hospital a week before her delivery.
Leela Sahu, 25, had earlier taken to social media to highlight the lack of road access to Kaddi-Bagaiha, a village around 40 km from the district headquarters. Accusing Sidhi MP Rajesh Mishra of failing to honour a year-old assurance, Sahu said she and five other pregnant women in the area face serious challenges in accessing medical care. Speaking to reporters on Friday, she said, “I will travel to Delhi after my delivery and appeal to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to ensure that the road is sanctioned at the earliest.”
Sahu had first launched her campaign last year, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and posting videos to draw attention to the poor connectivity in the region. She is now demanding a 10-km road stretch from Khaddikhurd to Gangari to help improve access to the village. Despite Mishra’s earlier promise that the road would be constructed after the monsoon season last year, no work has begun yet, Sahu alleged.
What the BJP MP said
When asked about the delay, MP Mishra said, “We have ambulances and other facilities. There is a due date for delivery, and if we are informed, she can be shifted to a hospital a week in advance. People these days want to gain social media fame. What’s the need to highlight it like this?”
Sahu’s acquaintances said she is due to deliver in about two weeks.
(With inputs from PTI)
