JAIPUR: On the eve of the Panchayat polls, a major argument has erupted in Rajasthan over a 'black paper' released by the opposition BJP against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his government. The BJP has accused the ruling Congress of failing to fulfill their promises of waiving loans for needy farmers and offering unemployment allowance to jobless youth in the state. But the ruling Congress has dismissed the 'black paper' as a 'pack of lies'.
Releasing the black paper ahead of the panchayat elections in six districts, former state BJP president Arun Chaturvedi said a "jungle raj" is prevailing under the Congress government which has now completed two-and-a-half years of its term in the state. He alleged that the crime graph is rising and the morale of criminals is high.
The black paper by the Rajasthan BJP projects the Ashok Gehlot-led government as a flop show. Speaking at the press conference while revealing their 'black paper' on Tuesday, Arun Chaturvedi said that the Congress government is not doing enough to find solutions.
He said, "BJP is releasing the 'black paper' to highlight the shortcomings of the state government during the past two and a half years. The government is merely using its power to swing votes in their favour. Jungle raj is prevailing in the state. Promises of loan waivers for farmers, unemployment allowance to the youth have not been fulfilled. Electricity bills are rising."
"Development has completely stopped, no new roads are being built. Money given for development is not utilised. This government is only about declarations and cares only about power, in fact, they have been fighting for power internally," Chaturvedi added.
The ruling Congress, however, has dismissed the BJP's black paper as a 'pack of lies'. Claiming that all the charges are baseless, the Congress President in the state Govind Singh Dotasara said, "In RSS Shakhas, these BJP leaders are trained only in speaking lies. The BJP is a house divided in Rajasthan and they are only fighting each other on who will become their CM face in the next elections. BJP leaders in the state are busy only on Twitter and in making false claims."
Just a few weeks ago, in a meeting of the election manifesto review committee held in Jaipur, Chief Minister Gehlot had claimed that 64 per cent of the promises made in the 2018 assembly election manifesto have been fulfilled so far. "At least 321 out of 501 goals, that is 64 per cent of promises of the public manifesto have been fulfilled. Along with that, 138 other initiatives are under progress," he had said.
"Despite the first and the second wave of Covid-19, the government has successfully implemented the promises it made during the 2018 assembly election. In the last 2.5 years, along with complete development of the state, every effort has been made to ease the pain of those in need," Gehlot had said.
The Congress asserts that the handling of the Covid-19 crisis by the Rajasthan government has been appreciated as being one of the best in the state. The party claims it will triumph in the Panchayat polls on the basis of its performance since taking over in December 2018.
The panchayat elections will be held in Bharatpur, Dausa, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur and Sirohi districts in three phases on August 26, 29 and September 1. The counting will take place on September 4.