Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has been on a two-day visit to BJP-ruled Gujarat to review party preparedness for the upcoming Assembly polls later this year. Gehlot held a press briefing at Vadodara yesterday.
Today in Ahmedabad, he met regional chiefs to strategize for the Assembly elections. The veteran leader also launched the digital campaign for the party. Teams have been prepared to visit every nook and corner of the state to document people’s grievances. “Based on this report, we will draft our manifesto. Gujarat has seen enough drama acts by Modiji. It is time to get real and we hope the people will give us a chance,” he briefed. The leader also touched upon communal polarisation and blamed the BJP for using “divisive politics” to further their own agenda.
His visit to Gujarat also coined the “Mera Booth Mera Gaurav” slogan. Claiming that the Congress will win the Assembly elections, Gehlot flagged the misuse of Central agencies by the BJP.
Referring to the exit of several Congress MLAs who later on won as BJP candidates in the bypolls, Gehlot said the Gujarat BJP has given “horse trading model” to the country. He also slammed the Modi government for introducing electoral bonds, which according to him, does not provide a level playing field for other parties because the majority of the donations are going to the BJP under this scheme.
In the 182-member House, the BJP had won 99 seats, while the grand old party had bagged 77 seats in the 2017 Gujarat elections. Reposing faith in Gehlot, the Congress leadership has once again entrusted him and Raghu Sharma to oversee the Assembly elections in the state.
At the press conference, he was also quizzed on caste violence in his home turf. The recent killing of a nine-year-old Dalit student for drinking water from his upper caste teacher’s pot, led the latter to unleash his might such that the blows proved fatal. “We will not spare the offender. The ADG (Law and Order) has been assigned to investigate,” he informed.
The senior Congress leader said that such incidents had happened at Una in Gujarat as well as in Uttar Pradesh: “These incidents happen everywhere, but ours is a government that has taken immediate action with the arrest of the accused and the appointment of an ADG in the case. We are also providing further financial assistance to the victim’s family. Rajasthan is the only state in India where we have made it compulsory for local police stations to lodge an FIR,” said Gehlot.
Also Read: Gehlot: Gujarat Fight Is Only Between Congress and BJP
