‘Campaigning in every street’: Gehlot takes dig at PM over frequent Gujarat visits

DEDIAPADA, (ANI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his repeated visits to poll-bound Gujarat, saying the PM was campaigning in every street of the state.

Addressing a public rally for the Congress at Dediapada in Gujarat on Sunday, Gehlot said, “PM Modi is having to campaign in every street of Gujarat as the BJP government did nothing for the people of the state. No inquiry was condcted into the Morbi (bridge collapse) incident, which left 135 persons dead. If you elect the Congress, the BJP will be forced to introspect (on its failures).”

Addressing another campaign event in Vadodra earlier on Sunday, Gehlot questioned the PM’s repeated visits to Gujarat while claiming that he knows of at least 30-35 rebel leaders in the BJP’s state unit. “What is the need for PM Modi to visit Gujarat repeatedly? Isn’t his name enough to attract votes? The reason for his frequent visits here is that the BJP is scared. I have been told that there are nearly 30-35 rebels inside the BJP (in Gujarat). Such is the extent of anger within the party,” Gehlot said.

The senior Congress leader further claimed that there is ‘massive anti-incumbency’ in Gujarat as he urged people to turn out in numbers to vote the Congress to power. Gujarat is considered a saffron citadel, with the BJP being at the helm of affairs of the state for over two decades.

Claiming that there was an ‘ambience of fear’ in the entire country, the Rajasthan chief minister said (the party’s former national president) Rahul Gandhi had taken out his ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ to send out a message of ‘love and peace’ in the country.

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, who was also present at the rally in Dediapada, took aim at the BJP, saying, “Modi and Shah have been asking what the Congress did in more than 50 years in power (at the Centre). If the Congress had not worked all these years, we would not have had a democracy today.”

The Assembly elections in Gujarat are scheduled to be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, with the counting of votes scheduled on December 8. (ANI)