Ahead of Rajya Sabha elections and amid the Congress's allegations of rival BJP attempting to buy its MLAs, the party's leadership in Rajasthan on Friday projected a united face with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot jointly addressing a press conference to assert that the state government was stable and the party's candidates will win.
“The Rajya Sabha elections were to be held two months ago. They were postponed for no valid reason. Now, when the election process has resumed, we saw how the BJP has indulged in horse-trading in Gujarat and has tried to offer inducements to our MLAs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are destroying the democratic traditions of the country,” Gehlot said. He accused the BJP of conspiring to topple governments when it should be focusing on the fight against COVID-19.
Echoing Gehlot's statements, AICC Communications Department in-charge Randeep Surjewala, sent to Jaipur by the party's central leadership amid heightened political activity in the state ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, said at a time when the entire country was fighting COVID-19, the BJP leadership, especially Modi and Shah, were busy destroying democracy. “We are aware that they can stoop to any level to wrest power. This is the true character of the BJP,” Surjewala said.
“There should be no misconception that there is any threat to the government or that any chance of our candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections not winning,” Pilot said. “We have a majority on our side. However, our candidates will, perhaps, get even more votes than the numbers that we have,” he further said.
The deputy chief minister attacked the BJP-led Central government for not providing the states, including Rajasthan, with adequate funds to deal with the pandemic. “Despite our revenues dipping by 50 per cent, we did enormous work to provide relief to the people. As many as 51 lakh people were given work under MGNREGA in the state, which is the highest in the country,” he said.
In a dramatic development, all Congress MLAs were summoned to Jaipur on June 10 and were sequestered at a resort on the outskirts of the state capital. The party has fielded state Congress leader Neeraj Dangi and AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal in the Rajya Sabha elections. Three seats in the upper house are on offer, and the Congress is in a position to win two seats, and the BJP one. The BJP queered the pitch by nominating two candidates.
