Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cautioned on August 18 that if the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks to transform the country into a ‘Hindu Rashtra,’ India will suffer the same destiny as Pakistan.
The senior observer for the Gujarat Assembly elections for the Congress also accused the BJP of contesting and winning elections only on the basis of religion.
Mr. Gehlot arrived in Gujarat on Wednesday on a two-day visit to meet with party leaders and assess their preparation for the next Assembly elections, which are scheduled for December this year.
Mr. Gehlot told reporters on the last day of his visit, “Many people, such as activists and journalists, have been jailed by the BJP across the country. They are fascists, who are winning elections only on the issue of religion. Otherwise, BJP does not have any ideology, policy or governance model.”
“We were very close to winning the 2017 Assembly elections. But unfortunately, the way PM Modi pitched himself and acted like a Bollywood actor during the campaign, we lost. To gain sympathy, he even distorted Congress leader Mani Shakar Aiyar’s statement during the campaign and claimed that Aiyar called him a ‘neech aadmi’ “, Mr. Gehlot said.
“At that time, people used to make fun of BJP’s development model by saying ‘Vikas has gone mad’. It was a big issue in 2017. To counter that slogan, Modiji, like an actor, came out with a slogan that ‘I am Vikas’. He even landed on a river on a seaplane to win the elections,” the senior Congress leader added.
The senior Congress politician said that the BJP’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been “terrorising” people since the agency has more power than the CBI (CBI).
Referring to the resignation of several Congress MLAs who later ran as BJP candidates in the bypolls, Mr. Gehlot said the Gujarat BJP has given “horse trading model” to the country.
“Electoral bonds will destroy this country. People [industrialists] are giving donations to BJP through this bond out of fear. They fear that ED may raid them if they do not give funds. Thus, electoral bonds do not provide a level playing field,” said Mr. Gehlot.
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