‘Gaurav Yatra will continue as planned’
BLAME GAME Parnami hits out at Congress and said that BJP can create hurdles for their rally, but the ‘party does not work like that’
state BJP president Ashok Parnami on Monday said chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s Gaurav Yatra will continue as planned in the Jodhpur division from August 29.
As per the yatra schedule, Raje was to take a three-day break from August 26 to August 28 and resume her yatra from Jaitaran in Pali district from August 29.
Replying to a query at a press conference, Parnami said the stone-pelting episode during the yatra was not a failure of the intelligence agency. “Investigations are underway, some arrests have been made and it will be revealed whether the culprits were associated with any political party,” he told reporters at the state BJP headquarters. “The BJP too can create hurdles for the Congress’s Sankalp Yatra but the party does not work like that.”
Reacting to Parnami’s statements, Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said while the attack on Raje’s yatra was condemnable and the culprits should be arrested, the BJP blaming the Congress was not correct.
“BJP should introspect why there is anger among the people, why people are not accepting the government, and why you have to change venues and look for smaller venues,” Sharma said. “In Jodhpur it was a chopper yatra, not a yatra.”
Reacting to the Congress charges, Parnami said the BJP has not stalled any development projects of the previous Congress government. “We have planned the Jaipur metro project keeping in mind the heritage tag of the city,” the senior BJP leader said.
He also refuted the Congress charge that the Barmer refinery project was being delayed. He said the Congress went about the project in a hurry without obtaining permission.
Parnami also targeted Sachin Pilot for his recent comments on rape, saying the Congress state president should say whether no rapes happened during his party’s rule. “Some Congress leaders went to jail for such incidents. The BJP, on the other hand, has opened POCSO courts,” he said.
Parnami said the Congress was trying to provoke Gujjars but the community will not fall for it as they know that “BJP has always been their well-wishers.”
The BJP and the Congress have been involved in a war of words after protests against Raje’s yatra turned violent on Saturday evening when some youths pelted stones at her rath (bus) as the cavalcade entered Piparcity, a town in Jodhpur district.
Raje said she will not be cowed down by such acts. She also cancelled her scheduled night halt at Khejrala and returned to Jaipur by a special plane.
On Sunday, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot refuted the charge that Congress workers were involved in the incident, saying that violence was not the Congress culture and instead hinted that it could have been stage-managed by the BJP.
15 ARRESTED FOR STONE PELTING ON RAJE YATRA
Police have arrested 15 persons in the case of stone pelting on CM Vasundhara Raje’s Gaurav Yatra. Search is on for the other accused. Police superintendent (rural) Rajan Dushyant said that after the incident the police had arrested 10 people, while five others were arrested on Sunday. Search operation is underway for the arrest of other accused identified on the basis of videography and photography.
JAIPUR/JODHPUR::Former