JAIPUR: Hitting back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s questioning of the BJP’s confidence about remaining in power for years, party president Nitin Nabin said in Jaipur that the party’s electoral confidence was rooted in public service and the trust it had earned, rather than electoral calculations or the absence of anti-incumbency.
Speaking in Delhi on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had questioned how BJP leaders could express complete confidence about remaining in power for decades despite prevailing public grievances.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had also alleged a nexus between the BJP and the Election Commission over democratic processes. But addressing the 'Seva Sankalp Sabha' at Dadiya near Jaipur on Friday, Nitin Nabin hit back at Rahul and claimed that the BJP's repeated victories stem directly from ground-level work, public welfare, and sustained commitment to development.
The BJP national president Nabin launched the party’s panchayat election campaign at the Seva Sankalp Sabha in Dadiya village and urged party workers to treat electoral success as an opportunity to serve people.At the event, Nabin responded to Rahul Gandhi’s questions about the BJP’s repeated election victories and said the party’s confidence for remaining in power came from its work for the public.
“Rahul Gandhi was asking why BJP governments keep coming to power and why our leaders say the BJP will remain in power for 25 years. This confidence comes from serving people and working for them,” Nabin said. “When four crore houses are built for the poor across the country, we receive their blessings in the form of votes. When toilets are built for 12 crore women and 75 lakh street vendors benefit from PM SVANidhi, we receive their blessings in the form of votes,” he added.
Nabin and chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma laid the foundation stones for 929 development projects worth Rs 2,636 crore across Rajasthan at the event, held to mark Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay’s birth anniversary. The government also transferred Rs 400 crore directly to the accounts of 36 lakh beneficiaries of various schemes. Nabin flagged off 90 vehicles for the panchayat election campaign.
“Our Panchayati Raj representatives and other local representatives can take the spirit of Antyodaya to the grassroots,” Nabin said. Referring to the BJP’s recent municipal election victories, he said the party had won control of more than 200 of the state’s 309 urban local bodies.
“The victory is a matter of pride, but we must take it as an opportunity to serve. We should work in a way that connects people with us,” he said.
The campaign launch coincided with the BJP’s victories in Friday’s mayoral elections in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota. Its candidates Sunil Kothari, Prasannchand Mehta and Anusuiya Goswami were elected mayors of the three cities, respectively.
The BJP now holds the mayor’s post in nine of Rajasthan’s 10 municipal corporations. It had earlier won the posts in Ajmer, Alwar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Pali and Udaipur, while the Congress won in Bikaner.