Kota: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government calling it “fascist which does not believe in democracy”.
Gehlot’s attack on Modi came a day after his Congress party colleague and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot raised eyebrows over the prime minister’s “praise” for the chief minister.
Addressing a public rally in Baran on Thursday, Gehlot said, “Unfortunately, the government at the Centre is fascist which does not believe in democracy. In the state where they (the BJP) are in power, they are harassing the public and writers, journalists and scholars are in jail.”
“If someone writes an article against the government, he becomes traitor, someone comments in the media, he is traitor. Such things do not have any place in a democracy,” he further said.
He claimed an atmosphere of violence is prevailing in the country and requested the prime minister to appeal the people of the country to maintain brotherhood. The prime minister should state that he would no longer tolerate violence, Gehlot said.
In a democracy the opposition should be equally respected and if the opposition criticises or disagrees with the government, the ruling dispensation should not take umbrage at it, the chief minister said.
Gehlot felicitated the best performing players in the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games at an event organised by Shri Parshav Nath Manav Seva Charitable Trust. He also inaugurated various development works in Baran.
He listed various social security and welfare schemes of his government and called upon the prime minister to consider launching them nationally.
He said no one died due to shortage of oxygen in Rajasthan during the coronavirus pandemic.
Rajasthan is the state in the country where the highest number of anti-corruption raids were conducted, he claimed.
Pilot’s remarks on the praise for Gehlot – which he called an interesting development that should not be taken lightly – signalled the resumption of hostilities in the party’s Rajasthan unit.
Pilot, who led a rebellion in 2020 against the CM, targeted the veteran leader by referring to Tuesday’s event at Mangarh Dham in Banswara district, where Gehlot shared the dais with Modi. The leaders there paid tribute to the 1,500 tribal people believed killed in an uprising against the British in 1913.
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