People restored faith in Congress: Pilot
JAIPUR: Enthused by his party’s performance in the civic polls, Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said the results went in favour of his party even as the BJP focused on emotional issues such Ram mandir, abrogation of Article 370 or triple talaq, much like the assembly election results about a year back.
With his party winning 23 of the 49 local bodies in the civic polls, Pilot said the result shows that the BJP had neither a policy nor the intention to work for the people. The public has understood that it’s the Congress which can bring development, he said.
Addressing newspersons at the party office, Pilot also spoke about the Ayodhya verdict and said, “It is the Supreme Court’s decicion. The entire country and people gladly accept the decision. It has been 30-35 years of politics on the issue…they (the BJP) did politics, fought elections, took out rallies and stood on rath but the Supreme Court verdict has put a full stop to it.”
He said the civic polls came just 11 months after the assembly elections which placed a Congress government at the helm. “People have blessed the Congress and its ideology with a historic mandate. Of the 49 civic bodies, the Congress received the mandate at most places, at others, it emerged as the biggest party and when the election of chairperson and vice-chairman is held on November 26 and 27, I have faith that the party will form the board with the help of independent councillors and others,” he said.
On BJP charges of differences between state government and the party, he said, “The results show that government and organization are working in coordination.”
Hitting out at the BJP, he said this election also shows that the policies of Centre …the country is suffering from economic slowdown and unemployment; and the way GST and demonetization has been wrongly implemented – the results are for all to see.
“It is a lesson for those who do politics by making statements, levelling charges or out of animosity. The way the security of AICC president Sonia Gandhi, Priynaka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi has been reduced... These results have brought many things to the forefront,” he said.
He added that the Gandhi family had always been under threat and nobody can forget martyrdom of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, yet such negative action was taken.
Pilot credited his party’s win to effective coordination, positive campaigning and the selection of candidates by district and block leaders. “A special manifesto was made which people understood; be it distribution of land deeds or sewerage system. The Opposition never raised people’s issues in or outside the assembly,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the BJP sought to underplay the Congress’s performance in the civic body polls. BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said the Congress need to be too happy with civic poll results as 64% of the voters had voted against the party.
On the issue of changing the category of security to the Gandhi family, he added that there was no interference by the government.