Time has come to give a farewell to BJP, says Pilot
RALLY State Congress president blames Raje govt for ’worsening’ condition of farmers JAIPUR:
Congress’s Rajasthan president Sachin Pilot Sunday said the time has come to “give a farewell” to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which he held responsible for “worsening” the condition of farmers in the state.
Addressing a farmers’ rally at Charbhuja temple in Rajsamand district, Pilot said Vasundhara Raje, before becoming the chief minister in 2013, had made huge promises to the people who, in turn, trusted her and gave her a mandate.
“(But) it is unfortunate that in the four-and-a-half years of her rule, the farmers and the section associated with agriculture have been in a poor state,” he said.
Rajasthan, being a large state with conditions prone to drought and damage of crops, has been facing adverse scenarios over the years but support from the government would act as relief for the farmers, the Congress leader said.
“But it is unfortunate that in Raje’s tenure, farmers’ condition worsened to such an extent that many of them committed suicide.”
The Congress has been citing reports of farmer suicides throughout the year, and has alleged that 92 famers have killed themselves since the BJP came to power.
The ruling party has repeatedly denied the reports, and had in May refuted claims that deaths of five farmers had any “links” with the fall in garlic prices.
Pilot had then accused the government of “turning a blind eye to farmer suicides” and of “not even acknowledging” them.
On Sunday, he said the government has failed “on all fronts – be it providing electricity, water, minimum support price or timely compensation for the damaged crops”.
“This government believes in taking out a Gaurav Yatra over farmers’ funeral processions, and not on their welfare,” Pilot told the gathering.
“It’s time to give farewell to the government of palaces and the time has come to bring the government of poor, farmers, labourers and of common people,” he said.
Taking potshots at the BJP for its claims about “infighting in the Congress”, Pilot said the CM should explain why she and her party’s national president, Amit Shah, have been holding election meetings separately. “The Congress is united under the leadership of (party president) Rahul Gandhi and will fight to oust this autocratic and anti-people government.”
Party leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot also addressed the rally. He said the CM had been travelling from Delhi to Dholpur throughout her tenure “but met no one”.
“I want to ask her, she says that Rajasthan is her family and she will protect it, but how will she do it? With the change in government (2013), she weakened the free medicine scheme, reduced the number of pensioners, and only changed the names of the schemes. If this had been her family, then she would not have done this. As a chief minister, I never did this. We never stalled or shut schemes introduced by (former vice president) and former chief minister late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat or those of Raje’s,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek responded to Gehlot’s and Pilot’s charges, calling the allegations “baseless”.
“Our party has fulfilled over 90% of the promises made in the (election) manifesto. CM Raje herself, under Sarkar Aapke Dwar and Nyay Aapke Dwar schemes, went to the people and addressed their grievances. This alone shows that the Congress’s allegations are baseless,” he said.
On Shah and Raje taking out separate rallies, he said our organisational structure is such that “everything is done under the guidance of the central leadership”.