As the campaigning for the November 25 Assembly election in Rajasthan ended on Thursday, the Congress put up a united front and urged voters to break the 30-year-old tradition of evicting incumbents, by bringing back the party back to power.
Former Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot, in a video, appealed to the voter to forget the past and make the party victorious.
“We won’t allow the BJP to succeed in their plan to stop the welfare schemes that our government started. That’s why I appeal to you to vote for the hand symbol on the morning of [November] 25,” Mr. Pilot said.
The appeal by Mr. Pilot is significant as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his public rallies in the past two days, had repeatedly accused the Congress of sidelining the former Rajasthan Congress chief.
The BJP is hoping to cash in on the perceived anger among Gujjars - a community the former Rajasthan Congress chief belong to - for not making Mr. Pilot the Chief Minister.
Hitting back at a press conference, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of trying to instigate the State’s Gujjar community, comprising about 8% of the population.
“Police firing on Gujjars took place during the BJP rule, in which 72 persons were killed. In the Congress regime, not even a lathi-charge was done and Gujjars received 5% reservation,” Mr. Gehlot said.
The Chief Minister also accused the BJP of hatching conspiracies to win the Assembly elections in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh by raking up the “red diary” issue and the Mahadev betting app case.
Mr. Gehlot said an inquiry should be conducted by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to expose the conspiracy as the BJP could not prove anything despite using the Central investigating agencies.
The party also released a video clip of a public rally of Home Minister Amit Shah, in which a local BJP leader could heard telling Mr. Shah not to target Mr. Gehlot and Mr. Pilot as “people don’t appreciate it”.
The Congress also released a video of former party chief Rahul Gandhi interacting with beneficiaries of the flagship Chiranjeevi health scheme, where he pledged that the scheme would ensure free treatment of up to ₹50 lakh from the present ₹25 lakh.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that Rajasthan, the land of heroes and warriors, has accepted the party’s public welfare schemes and is all set to break its tradition of changing government every five years.
“Thanks to more than one crore families for reposing their trust in the seven guarantees of the Congress party. There is an environment in favour of the Congress party in the entire State,” he said.
Seven guarantees
The Congress chief claimed that the BJP was scared of the incumbent government’s social justice, economic empowerment, savings, and relief schemes.
“Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi ji and Home Minister Amit Shah are busy making hollow, absurd, and divisive remarks, they are not able to digest the seven guarantees made by the Congress party. This time the public will not fall for their lies, deception, and hateful words. The people of Rajasthan have decided that this time, the tradition will change and they will give another opportunity to the Congress,” Mr. Kharge said.
Free treatment
To underscore the popularity of its Chiranjeevi scheme, the Congress also released a five-minute video of Mr. Gandhi interacting with cancer patients at Jaipur’s Mahatma Gandhi hospital, where the patients lauded the scheme.
Sharing the video on his X handle, Mr. Gandhi said: “Chiranjeevi Yojana - free treatment up to ₹50 lakh, India’s best scheme! The beneficiary patients and their families themselves are confirming this in Mahatma Gandhi Hospital. Modi ji, this is called guarantee - to support in times of trouble, to walk shoulder to shoulder. If you want to see it, come to our Rajasthan sometime!”
Mr. Gandhi also dialled Mr. Gehlot from the hospital and made him speak to a father of a young cancer patient, who wanted to express his gratitude to the Chief Minister.
