Senior Congress leaders of Rajasthan on Tuesday came together to start the second leg of the party’s ‘Sankalp Yatra’ from Churu as part of its Assembly election campaign in the State’s Shekhawati region. They accused the ruling BJP of playing the “blame game” on the recent attack on Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s ‘Gaurav Yatra’ in Jodhpur district.
Among the six Assembly segments in the Churu district, the Congress was elected only in the Sardarpura constituency in the 2013 polls.
While affirming that the party had regained lost ground in the BJP bastion, the Congress leaders said they would breach the latter’s strongholds not just in Shekhawati, but also in all regions of the State.
‘People fed up of BJP’
Addressing a huge rally at the Police Ground in Churu, Pradesh Congress president Sachin Pilot said the BJP’s tactics of blaming the Opposition party for the Saturday’s incident of stone-pelting would only expose its strategy to gain public sympathy.
“The reality is that the public is fed up with the BJP rule. People’s resentment is getting reflected in various forms during Ms. Raje’s yatra,” he said.
Mr. Pilot also took strong exception to the remarks being repeatedly made by the BJP against his party colleagues. He said the BJP was trying to mislead the people by attacking the Congress leaders instead of replying to serious questions being raised.
AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot, former Union Minister C.P. Joshi, senior party leader Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, AICC Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Rameshwar Dudi also addressed the rally, which marked the Sankalp Yatra’s second phase.
‘Diverting attention’
Mr. Gehlot said the BJP government had abolished all public welfare schemes started by the previous Congress regime.
“The BJP leaders are blaming the Congress for attack on yatra to divert public attention from the real issues. Ms. Raje has thought of getting the public feedback at the end of her tenure... People are rejecting her everywhere,” he said.
Mr. Pande and Mr. Joshi said the BJP, which had violated people’s democratic rights, was becoming desperate because of its “anti-people policies” getting exposed.
They said the Congress would get elected in poll-bound Rajastan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh this year.
