in december 2007, the Chhattisgarh government estimated that the state had 2.14 million people below poverty line (bpl) families in the state. A month later, while launching a new food assistance programme, the government pegged the figure at 3.4 million.

Opposition parties grabbed the chance to question the ruling bjp government on the credibility of the statistics of bpl families. The Congress Party alleged the government was trying to