Jaipur, July 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday informally launched the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign in Rajasthan, speaking about his development programmes and attacking the Congress.
The Centre and the state government are working together for the progress of Rajasthan, Modi said in Jaipur, addressing around 2.5 lakh beneficiaries of various welfare schemes.
“Humare kaamkaaj ke tarike mein cheezen na atakti hain, na latakti hain aur na hi bhatakti hain (Our work process does not get stuck or is left hanging or wander),” he said.
Modi also took a dig at the Congress, saying people were calling it ‘bail gaadi’ (bail cart) these days, punning on the Hindi phrase ‘bayl gaadi’ which means bullock cart.
“Congress ko aaj kal kuch log ‘bail gaadi’ bolne lage hain. Bayl gaadi nahin, bail gaadi. Congress ke kai diggaj neta aur purv mantri aajkal bail par hain (Some people are calling Congress ‘bail cart’, not bullock cart, because some of its big leaders and former ministers are on bail),” he said.
The Prime Minister was apparently referring to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who had recently gotten bail in the death case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Tharoor was a former minister of state in the external affairs and human resources development ministries, besides being a top UN functionary.
Earlier this year, former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son, Karti Chidambaram had gotten bail in the INX media corruption case.
On the development front, he said facilities in 1,500 villages in Rajasthan will be developed. Around 50 crore people would get Rs 5 lakh worth heathcare protection.
Earlier, Modi had arrived in a special aircraft at the Sanganer airport in Jaipur. He was welcomed by Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh and chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Around 2.5 lakh beneficiaries of 12 schemes run by the BJP governments at the Centre and the state turned up at the venue, which is called ‘Amroodon ka bagh (garden of guavas)’.
The Congress had alleged that the beneficiaries being invited by the Rajasthan government for the rally were BJP workers, a charge denied by the party. Elections are due in Rajasthan by the end of the year.
Source Tribune India
