Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed confidence in the Congress’s triumph in Rajasthan assembly polls. He said, “We hope that our government is repeated as the public knows that whatever we promised, we fulfilled.”
“I see that the atmosphere is in favour of our candidate here in Karauli. People know that we made schemes and laws prioritising them. In future too, we will keep our promises”, the Rajasthan CM said while speaking to reporters in Rajasthan’s Karauli. “I’m hopeful that our government will be repeated as the public knows that whatever we promised, we fulfilled it”, he added. The Congress has fielded its sitting MLA, Lakhan Singh Meena, from the Karauli constituency.
Raising voice for ERCP for the past 5 years: CM Gehlot
Meanwhile, speaking on the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP), CM Gehlot said, “We have been raising our voice for the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) for the last five years so that PM Modi’s promise of declaring it a national project can be fulfilled. This will provide many benefits to the people including drinking water”.
It is worth mentioning that the ERCP is an ambitious project that was first proposed by the previous BJP government in Rajasthan to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of 13 districts, which include Jaipur, Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Dausa, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur, and Dholpur. The Rajasthan government has been demanding the ‘national’ project status for the ERCP so that 90 per cent of the fund can be provided by the central government.
According to the state Water Resources Department, Rajasthan, which is the largest state of India having a geographical area of 342.52 lakh hectares that accounts for 10.4% of the entire country, holds only 1.16% of India’s surface water and 1.72% of groundwater.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats while the BJP won 73 seats in the 200-member house. Ashok Gehlot came to power with the support of BSP MLAs and independents. Polls will be held in Mizoram on November 7, Chhattisgarh on November 7 and November 17, Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan on November 25 and Telangana on November 30.
Questioning ED’s intent
As Enforcement Directorate raids continued in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot questioned the intent of ED and said that ED is only paying attention to going to politicians’ houses. “The way ED is behaving in the whole country; I believe it’s not in their own interest. These are premiere agencies. Now ED is only coming for opposition political parties. ES is only paying attention in going to politicians’ houses” said Ashok Gehlot.
“In such a big country, are there no income offences happening? They are not paying attention to that. Their credibility is reducing; we don’t want that. We want these agencies to be strong…This should be a matter of concern,” he added.
On Thursday, the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested an Enforcement Officer (EO) of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Naval Kishore Meena, and his associate, Babulal Meena, in Jaipur for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 15 lakh.
