PM Modi steps up support for BJP candidate in Jallore, Rajasthan

Jaipur:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took an apparent swipe at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, saying “those who cannot win elections have left the field” and become a member of the Lok Sabha from Rajasthan. Mrs Gandhi was elected unopposed to the upper house of parliament a few months ago. Mrs Gandhi had represented Congress stronghold Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha for two decades before taking office in the Lok Sabha. She also represented Amethi for five years.

The Prime Minister is in Jallore, Rajasthan, campaigning for the BJP’s Lumbaram Choudhary, who is on a campaign trail with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot son, Congress MP Vaibhav Gehlot. Jallore constituency is a stronghold of the BJP, which has been winning the constituency for two decades.

At today’s rally, the Prime Minister questioned whether the Congress MP representing Rajasthan in the Union House had raised the state’s issues. “Congress sent a southern leader from Rajasthan to Rajasthan. Did he never talk about Rajasthan? No. You also sent former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Rajasthan Bang. He is not feeling well but have you seen him in Rajasthan? Now your people who cannot contest elections and win elections have saved another leader and they have left the battlefield from Rajasthan state came to the Union House,” he said without naming Mrs Gandhi.

Currently, Rajasthan has six MPs in the Lok Sabha: Sonia Gandhi, Neeraj Dhanji, Randeep Singh Surjewala, KC Venugopal, Pramo De Tiwari and Mukul Wasnik; only Mr Dangi is actually from Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister said the people of Rajasthan “punished” the Congress in the first phase of the Rajasthan Lok Sabha polls. The first phase of voting went to 12 of the state’s 25 seats on Friday. The rest will vote this Friday.

“Rajasthan is filled with patriotism. It knows that the Congress can never make India strong. The country does not want such a Congress government. The country does not want to go back to the pre-2014 situation,” he said.

Attacking the Opposition with his oft-repeated barb of “remote control”, the Prime Minister said: “No one respects the Prime Minister. The government is run by remote control.” This barb is a standard line of attack used by the BJP, which claimed Gandhi Madam was the de facto Prime Minister in the government led by Manmohan Singh.

The prime minister also took a veiled swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the 2013 incident when he said a UPA government order protecting convicted legislators from disqualification must be “teared up and thrown away” .

“Imagine a cabinet note being torn up by the leader of the ruling party at a press conference. Can such a weak system make the country strong?” the Prime Minister asked, adding that the Congress party was responsible for the current situation. “Parties that once won 400 seats (in the Lok Sabha) are now unable to contest even 300 seats. They have no candidates,” he said.