Amit Shah's remarks against state govt false, ridiculous: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, terming his remarks against his government as "false and ridiculous".

Addressing Rajasthan BJP booth functionaries in CM’s hometown Jodhpur, Shah had targeted the state government over the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal and the Karauli violence, alleging that the Congress can only indulge in politics of vote bank and appeasement.

He also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the "Bharat Jodo Yatra", saying he had once said India is not a nation and is now out to "unite" the country wearing a "foreign-make" T-shirt.

Gehlot said the public support for Rahul Gandhi's "Bharat Jodo Yatra" has left the BJP shocked.

"It is very surprising that the statements made by Union Home and Cooperatives Minister Amit Shah in Jodhpur today are factually incorrect," Gehlot said in a statement.

"People of the country expect factual things in his speech as home minister and the inputs provided to him by government officials, intelligence and BJP leaders should be true. But in this speech, it appears that he was not given facts. That is why he gave a speech full of lies," he added.

Gehlot said farmers in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan were hoping that Shah would fulfil the prime minister’s promise of giving the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) the status of a national initiative.

"It is surprising that Shah did not speak a word about the ERCP," the chief minister said.

On the Shah’s charge that the state government did not fulfil its promises, Gehlot said, "Our government has started the Chiranjeevi Yojana, in which every family of Rajasthan is getting cashless insurance up to Rs 10 lakh and accident insurance of Rs 5 lakh, which is not provided in any other state in the country."

"Our government has given a subsidy of Rs 1,000 per year to farmers by starting the Mukhyamantri Kisan Mitra Urja Yojana due to which the electricity bill of about 8 lakh farmers has become zero," he added.

Gehlot claimed that his party announced farm loan waiver on the third day of coming to power and waived loans of about 21 lakh farmers.

"We wrote letters to the central government several times for one-time settlement of loans from nationalised banks but no response came from there," the chief minister alleged, adding that the Modi government is busy "waiving loans of big capitalists".

Replying to Shah's statement on the Congress' "Bharat Jodo Yatra", Gehlot said the BJP is shocked by the public support Rahul Gandhi is getting.

"I had said earlier also that the anger of the BJP will go up as the yatra progresses," he said.