JAIPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the ruling Congress in Rajasthan at his Bikaner rally on Saturday. He targeted the party over corruption. He alleged Congress means a ‘loot ki dukan’ (shop of loot) in a ‘jhoot ka bazar’ (market of lies). It was a counter to Rahul Gandhi’s famous phrase of opening a ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ (shop of love) in a ‘nafrat ka bazaar’ (market of hate).
Targeting the Gehlot government, he said while the Centre sends a lot of assistance to the state, the Gehlot government is “so steeped in corruption that those benefits do not reach the people of the state. Emphasising the need of a ‘double-engine’ government in Rajasthan, he particularly targeted the Gehlot government over ‘paper leak’ which the PM claimed “has become an industry in Rajasthan.”
PM Modi also slammed the Congress infighting which he claimed is symptomatic of the deep corruption that the Rajasthan government is steeped in over the past four-and-a-half years. The PM claimed that “one faction has been given full freedom to loot so that its leaders don’t move over to the other faction” — a clear allusion to the factional feud between loyalists of CM Ashok Gehlot and his former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot.
Claiming that the Rajasthan government has caused significant harm to the state in the last four years, PM Modi also asserted that the Congress party is aware of its impending defeat, which is why its leaders have begun to vacate government bungalows.
He ridiculed the Gehlot government, remarking, “The Congress’ defeat in Rajasthan is so certain that the government has already entered ‘bye-bye mode’. I have been informed that some ministers and legislators have vacated their government accommodations and returned to their personal residences. Only Congress leaders can display such confidence in their own defeat.”
The Congress has shown little concern for Rajasthan’s issues and the problems faced by its citizens. The BJP’s plan to ensure drinking water for every household has become a source of trouble for the Congress government. Referring to the developmental work by the Centre in Rajasthan, PM Modi expressed, “We are focusing on upgrading the state’s connectivity infrastructure.”