JAIPUR: The Congress in Rajasthan has launched a campaign against the Modi government on the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) issue. The ERCP was intended to provide drinking and irrigation water to 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modii’s promise during the last Lok Sabha election, the BJP has failed to grant it national status. Latching on to the issue, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused Modi of reneging on his commitments.
“Modi has broken all their promises on ERCP, and what matters to them is fighting elections, not fulfilling promises,” Kharge said. He also pointed out that despite the BJP winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, none of the MPs had taken significant action to advance the ERCP or assist the state’s residents.
CM Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of obstructing the ERCP project due to their dissatisfaction with Vasundhara Raje who had initially announced the project. He questioned why the public should suffer because of BJP leaders’ resentment toward Vasundhara Raje.
Gehlot’s administration has consistently criticised the Centre for its lack of cooperation. Now, it is making the ERCP a major poll issue in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan where the party performed well in 2018.
Gehlot has pledged to complete the ERCP using state government funds. After the initial allocation of ` 9,000 crore in the budget, an additional `5,000 crore has been earmarked for the project.
The Congress party is also organising a yatra on ERCP to put the BJP on the defensive during the state assembly elections. The extent to which Congress will benefit from the ERCP issue will become evident from voting patterns. As part of the assembly election campaign, Congress is implementing a strategy to confront the Central government and the BJP head on.
In another development, Kharge, in response to media queries in Baran, announced that the list of Congress candidates for Rajasthan would be unveiled on October 18. Rajasthan’s state in-charge, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, said a central election committee (CEC) meeting is scheduled for October 18. During this meeting, they intend to announce the list of candidates for most of the constituencies in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections.