On Monday, Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot called PM Modi’s visit to Rajasthan a way of wooing the people ahead of the state assembly elections. Pilot claimed that the visits done by the BJP are ‘more political and less administrative’. He also exuded confidence that the Congress party will once again win the Rajasthan elections.
The Tonk constituency MLA said, “The public understands what is the reason for the repeated visits of the Prime Minister and BJP leaders. If there was concern about the 8 crore people of Rajasthan, then there are 25 MPs of Rajasthan, but still, no effort was made to fulfil the special demand of Rajasthan. Everyone knows their visits are more political and less administrative”
“They (Modi and other BJP leaders) are coming here only for campaigning and they have to campaign because they are unable to woo the leaders of Rajasthan, so they are trying to get the leaders of Delhi to do it. From the feedback we are getting, it seems that along with Rajasthan, we will also form our government in states like Madhya Pradesh, Telangana etc. and will change the trend of the last three decades in Rajasthan and form the government again”, Pilot said while addressing the media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a one-day visit to Rajasthan. Addressing a rally in Chittorgarh, PM Modi targeted the Congress government, saying the state is getting a bad name due to cases of atrocities against women and Dalits, and people want the BJP to come to power in the assembly polls later this year.
The Prime Minister said, “I feel pain when atrocities take place against daughters anywhere in the country but Congress has made this a tradition in Rajasthan… Every woman and daughter of Rajasthan is saying Bjp will come to power and bring women security…”
Rajasthan is one of the five states to go to polls later this year. In the 2018 State Assembly elections, the Congress Party won the polls by winning 100 seats and Ashok Gehlot became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
While speaking to journalists at the state Congress headquarters on Monday, Pilot said, “This time, the ticket allocation will be based on merit, not on personal connections. Tickets will be distributed based on the strength on the ground and the likelihood of winning. The party will make the final decision on this matter soon. Observers are continuously visiting villages and towns to gather feedback from Congress workers.”
Pilot has advocated contesting elections alone in Rajasthan instead of forming an alliance with another party. He said, “There is no need for an alliance in Rajasthan. It is true that at the national level, we are members of the ‘I.N.D.I.A’ alliance. In Rajasthan, the competition is mainly between Congress and BJP. At this time, Congress is so strong in comparison to the BJP that it can form a majority government on its own. Our biggest asset is our workers. Priority will be given to youth, SC, ST, OBC, and Dalits. We will form the government again with the efforts of our workers.”
