Gehlot: Congress will win Lok Sabha elections in Raj
The Congress workers have enough enthusiasm to win the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said on Saturday while attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its defeat in the assembly polls last December despite the same determination.
Addressing the party workers in Siroji, Gehlot said, “Your (the Congress workers) energy doesn’t say that Congress may lose in anyway. When we ask the people, they also say determinedly that the Congress is winning. We got the same feedback during the state poll as well, but we lost due to BJP’s lies.”
He further said, “Rajasthan’s environment is now favourable for the Congress. Like the state polls, everybody wants us to win in the Lok Sabha elections. They are aware of what our government did in the last five years. Now what is their new
government is doing except for weakening the schemes that we started?”
Rajasthan’s 25 constituencies will go to the Lok Sabha polls in two phases on April 19 and April 26 and the results will be announced on June 4.
The BJP had swept the Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan in 2019, winning 24 of the 25 seats.
Besides, the assembly by-poll to Bagidora will also be held on April 26. The seat was left vacant after Congress lawmaker Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya resigned and joined the ruling BJP on February 21.
Gehlot also expressed his concern over the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection to the alleged excise policy scam.
“I don’t know what is happening in this country. The democracy is crushed. The constitution is finished. No one is safe in this country,” the former chief minister said.
He added: “The Enforcement Directorate (ED) should answer why they are not being able to produce the challan in a slew of cases in which they kept annoying a political leader from the opposition. Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Income Tax (IT) departments are constantly being misused by the BJP. Before Kejriwal, they tried to disturb our senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi as well. BJP will see its reaction in the upcoming poll.”
Referring to the freezing of Congress’s bank accounts, he said that it is only an attempt to stop the party workers ahead of the poll. He said. “People understand what it means when someone’s bank accounts are frozen. It’s concerning situation for all of us. There is no democracy anymore in this country.”
He said the media are also barred from doing their job due to the tremendous pressure created by the BJP.
“The BJP has plans to fully turn every one of them into “Godi media” by creating pressure on the owners of the media houses,” he said. He also hit out at the newly elected BJP government under chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma saying that the crime rate and inflation are on rise.
Responding to Gehlot, the BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said, “It’s the people who chose BJP. Gehlot should have respect for the call taken by them. People have faith in PM Modi and his works. BJP will not only win all the 25 seats but also all the 400 seats in the country.”