Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “obstinacy” led to the BJP’s defeat in the Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka assembly elections and that the party is certain to lose in more states. Addressing the ‘Beneficiary Fest’ programme, he claimed Modi was advised by the then Himachal Pradesh chief minister to go back to the old pension system for government employees, but he remained “obstinate”.
Restoration of the old pension system was one of the major promises made by the Congress in the 2022 Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. “The BJP tasted defeat in the recent elections (in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka) due to the obstinate nature of the Prime Minister. There is no place for obstinacy in a democracy,” Gehlot said.
He also urged the Prime Minister to examine the Right to Health Bill, 2022 passed by the Congress government in Rajasthan. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan claimed, “I would like to tell the Prime Minister that you should not make it a prestige issue. The Prime Minister is stubborn. He does what he likes.”
Gehlot said that in a democracy one has to bow down before the voters because it is the vote that wins the election. Hitting out at the BJP, the Rajasthan chief minister said the opposition party had nothing to say against him because of the development work done by his government. Bankruptcy is not just lack of money, one can also be intellectually bankrupt, he said while targeting the BJP.
Asserting that no government should stop the schemes of its predecessor, Gehlot said his government did not stop the East Rajasthan Canal Project
Launched by Vasundhara Raje Govt. He demanded that the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project be given the status of a national project so that it could be completed at the earliest. Gehlot also said that he was hopeful that Prime Minister Modi would give national project status to the project during his visit to Ajmer, but it did not happen.
Claiming that the schemes launched by the government were not “election-oriented announcements” but meant to be implemented over a long period of time. Benefits under the ‘Indira Gandhi Gas Cylinder Subsidy’ scheme were transferred to the bank accounts of 14 lakh registered beneficiary families during the Beneficiary Festival. Under this scheme, which started from April 1, gas cylinders will be provided to 76 lakh families for Rs.500.