Jaipur, Sep 30 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Wednesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had secured voters’ trust in the Jodhpur division during the civic body elections, while the Congress suffered a complete defeat.
Addressing a public meeting in Chohtan in Barmer district, Sharma said grassroots development happens primarily through civic bodies and Panchayats.
He said that adding a “third engine” in the form of civic bodies and Panchayats to the existing “double-engine government” would help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a “Viksit Bharat” and “Viksit Rajasthan”.
The Chief Minister said that, having lived in a village, he was well acquainted with rural conditions and understood the needs of farmers and people living in poverty.
He alleged that Congress leaders were focused on caste and religion and were resorting to falsehoods because they had no other issues to raise.
According to Sharma, appeasement and corruption remained the Congress party’s primary agenda.
He said that whenever Congress loses elections, it blames Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The Chief Minister further alleged that before the civic body elections, Congress leaders had accused the BJP of misusing the administration for electoral gain. Still, the results proved the public placed its trust in the BJP.
On employment, Sharma said Rajasthan’s youth suffered under the previous Congress government because repeated paper leaks shattered their aspirations.
He claimed that no paper leak had taken place during the BJP government’s nearly three-year tenure.
Highlighting the government’s employment initiatives, Sharma said that while the BJP had promised to provide four lakh government jobs to the youth, it had already issued appointment letters for more than 1.89 lakh posts.
He added that recruitment for 1.22 lakh posts was currently underway and that a recruitment calendar for another 1.25 lakh posts had also been released.
Taking a swipe at the opposition, the Chief Minister said Congress leaders should keep a pen and notebook ready to record the government’s recruitment figures.
“If their maths is weak, we can even arrange tuition for them,” Sharma remarked.
He further said Congress leaders were unable to see the development taking place in Rajasthan and suggested that they either get their eyesight checked or wear spectacles with the correct prescription.
The Chief Minister also said that people of the state had witnessed how civic body and Panchayati Raj elections were conducted during the previous Congress government.
He alleged that the Model Code of Conduct was invoked repeatedly in a way that adversely affected development work.
Sharma further alleged that the previous Congress government had spent more than a month stationed in Jaisalmer alone.
He reiterated that under the BJP’s “double-engine” government, the time had come to add a “third engine” focused on development through Panchayats alongside civic bodies.
According to him, this would ensure the speedy completion of development projects in villages across Rajasthan.
Referring to the upcoming Panchayati Raj elections, Sharma expressed confidence that the people of Rajasthan would once again reject the Congress and support the BJP.
He said the BJP’s “lotus” would bloom in the forthcoming elections as well.
–IANS
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