Rajasthan BJP chief Rathore, Nagaur MP Beniwal trade barbs over helicopter for treatment

Jaipur, Oct 15 (PTI) The BJP's Rajasthan unit chief Madan Rathore on Tuesday said the expenses for airlifting his wife for medical treatment were borne by her firm, as he hit back at Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal for alleging the bus fire victims did not get the same facility.

Twenty people were burnt alive, and 16 were critically injured in Rajasthan when a private bus travelling from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur suddenly went up in flames on Tuesday afternoon.

Responding to Beniwal's barb, Rathore explained that he did not use government resources for his wife's airlifting and asserted that the Nagaur MP's statement was "insensitive and reflective of a degraded mindset".

"Not a single rupee came from the government. Those who never paid their electricity bills or vacated government houses are now trying to lecture us on honesty," the BJP leader said.

Rathore, however, thanked Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, and Govind Singh Dotasra for inquiring about his wife's health, saying, "They behaved with dignity, unlike Beniwal, whose politics is rooted in personal attacks." In a post on X, Beniwal contrasted the "inaction" in case of the bus fire victims to the swift use of a helicopter a day earlier to transport the ailing wife of Rathore from Pali to Jaipur.

He questioned why critically injured victims of a bus fire near Jaisalmer were not airlifted for treatment, despite the availability of military copters.

"I want to ask Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma, when the state BJP president Madan Rathore's wife fell ill, you could arrange a helicopter to fly her from Pali to Jaipur, but when several citizens were critically burnt in a horrific bus fire near Jaisalmer, why were they not airlifted to Jodhpur?" Beniwal posed.

"There were military helicopters/planes available in Jaisalmer. You could have coordinated with central authorities and defence officials to ensure the victims were flown to Jodhpur or Jaipur for timely treatment," he said.

On the Anta Assembly bypoll, BJP state president Rathore accused Congress leaders of running a "misleading and baseless campaign" and failing to offer a policy-driven agenda to voters.

"The opposition has no vision. They are repeating the same fabricated claims instead of discussing development," he said.

Rathore alleged that a minister in the previous Gehlot government had accused Congress candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya of corruption, yet the same leaders were now praising him.

He said that the Gehlot government sat on ERCP for five years despite repeated requests from the Centre. "Our government acted decisively for the farmers and the people." Rathore added that the BJP was working to boost farmers' income, curb crime, and deliver good governance. "Unlike the Congress, which was mired in infighting and corruption, our focus is on performance," he said. PTI AG NSD NSD