STATE TIMES NEWS
Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday alleged that the Congress government in Rajasthan was taking a soft stand against terrorists due to its appeasement politics and took a dig over infighting in the party, saying the “chief minister does not have faith in his MLAs” and they also don’t trust him.
Addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Abu Road, he alleged that an “ugly form of political battle” has been on for the last five years in the state and instead of working in people’s interest, Congress leaders were busy in “the game of looting and saving the chair”.
Referring to the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts that claimed 71 lives and left 185 others injured, the prime minister alleged that the Congress government in the state did not fight the case strongly, leading to the acquittal of all the accused.
“The Congress government of Rajasthan did what the Congress is notorious for. The Congress has always taken a soft stand on terrorists for appeasement. It does not leave any chance to stand with terrorist ideology,” he alleged.
Modi claimed that during the coronavirus pandemic, the Congress “wanted more people to die so that they could get a chance to grab my neck”.
However, the prime minister said that he would not kowtow to the threats and conspiracies of these people.
“If Modi bows down, then he bows down before 140 crore countrymen,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi said that Rajasthan is also facing the consequences of Congress’s politics of selfishness.
“You are witnessing an ugly form of political battle in Rajasthan for the last five years. Instead of the interest of the public, the game of looting and saving the chair is going on here,” he said.
“What kind of government is this where the chief minister does not have faith in his own MLAs and they also do not have faith in their chief minister. Everyone is competing to humiliate others,” he said at the rally in Sirohi district, around 400 km from the state capital Jaipur.
Modi’s remarks came as a festering power tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot again spilled into the open, with both accusing each other of colluding with BJP leaders.
The two Congress leaders have been at loggerheads over the CM’s post since the party formed the government in December 2018. With the assembly elections approaching in the state, Pilot, who lost his post of deputy CM and PCC chief after revolting against Gehlot in 2020, has now intensified his attacks.
On Sunday, Gehlot said he survived the 2020 revolt as BJP leaders Vasundhara Raje and Kailash Meghwal refused to support a conspiracy to topple an elected government through money power. He even said that the rebel MLAs should return any money they have taken from the BJP.
Pilot on Tuesday rejected the charge that the dissidents – whom he had led — took any money from the BJP. He also said that Gehlot’s remarks had made it clear why his government was not probing the allegations of corruption against the previous Raje government.
At the rally on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi said that the chief minister’s chair was in trouble for five years and there was no one to care about the development of Rajasthan.
He also alleged that there was a complete breakdown of law and order under the Congress rule and crimes against women had increased.
He said that the Congress government in Rajasthan is afraid to take action against criminals because of vote bank politics and for the appeasement of some people. He alleged that because of this thinking, the Congress government presented a weak prosecution in the Jaipur bomb blast case because of which the accused were acquitted.
“No matter how much the Congress tries to cover it up, its truth has come before the country,” he said, adding that Dalit, backward and tribal communities have suffered to its policies.
He said that the tribal people had trusted the Congress for years, but got no relief.
