It is believed that over a hundred battles have been fought to protect the famous Charbhuja temple in Rajsamand, about 350 km from here.
It was from here that the former chief minister, Vasudhara Raje, kicked off her Suraj Sankalp Yatra on Thursday, waging her own political battle to reclaim Rajasthan in the Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year.
The yatra, which will cover 13,500 km and all 200 Assembly constituencies over seven phases, was flagged off by BJP national president Rajnath Singh amid chanting of Vedic hymns, in the presence of spiritual leaders of different religions and over one lakh supporters.
“The UPA government has become a minority government and is surviving by misusing the CBI but it may fall anytime now,” said Mr. Singh.
It had subverted major constitutional institutions to stay in power, he said, referring to alleged post-retirement sops being offered to bureaucrats.
He cited the examples of the former CBI director, Ashwani Kumar, being appointed Governor of Nagaland and the nomination of NIA director-general S.C. Sinha for the post of Member, NHRC.
“Just like Ram killed Ravan, corruption will destroy this government and the BJP will come to power in the Centre as well as in Rajasthan,” he said.
Ms. Raje maintained an aggressive tone throughout her speech, attacking the ruling Congress government over issues of development, caste reservation and women’s empowerment.
“The Congress government has not done anything for the people of Rajasthan during the last four and a half years. All it has done is cash on major developmental projects already started by the previous BJP government,” she said.
“Now they are saying they will build a new Rajasthan. I ask them, what were they doing for these four years?” she said.
“If we come back to power, we will re-orient the government’s priorities towards empowering women and youth. I request you to work with us for another six months and together we will build a new Rajasthan,” she said.
