Rajasthan CM slams BJP after local body poll results: 'People rejected lies & propaganda'

Following the ruling Congress party’s victory in the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the BJP. Expressing his happiness over the election results, Gehlot said that the people have rejected the BJP, who tried to win with "lies and propaganda". The CM stated that the result reassured that Congress will once again form the government in 2023.

BJP resorted to horse-trading, says Gehlot

Ashok Gehlot claimed that the election results were positive for the ruling party. Claiming that there is no anti-incumbency in the state, he said that the party will remain in power after the 2023 polls. Slamming the opposition, the CM alleged the BJP resorted to horse-trading to win the Jaipur Zila Pramukh polls. He claimed that the Congress rebel Rama Devi won as a BJP candidate resorting to such practices. Gehlot went on to claim that the opposition had used similar practices to topple the Rajasthan government last year.

In the Rajasthan Panchayat polls, Congress registered victory by bagging 670 panchayat Samiti seats, while the opposition BJP secured 551 out of a total of 1,564, the State Election Commission had confirmed. The polls were held in 6 districts of Rajasthan in three phases. The elections were held in the districts of Bharatpur, Dausa, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur and Sirohi. Meanwhile, both BJP and Congress won three Zila Pramukhs each.

CM happy over BJP loss

"For the past one year, BJP's Union ministers and local leaders were continuously making statements against me. Six contenders for the post of chief minister of BJP made rhetoric against me and the state government without arguments and facts. I never answered them but today the public has shut their mouths by giving a befitting reply," Gehlot said in a statement. The CM stated that the results showed people’s mandate by wiping out the BJP from the village governments.

Gehlot went on to say that the anger of the farmers and the rural masses towards the BJP was visible in the polls. “Even the central ministers campaigned, but the public did not fall for their lies and propaganda,” the state CM alleged. "The people of the country have made up their mind that now they will teach a lesson to the BJP in every coming election," Gehlot added. He went on to claim that most independent candidates who won were also Congress-backed.  

IMAGE: PTI