Rajasthan assembly polls: Ashok Gehlot files nomination papers from Sardarpura seat
Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hit the campaign trail in Rajasthan from Udaipur on November 9. While the BJP has an edge, dissident activities have begun to bother the party. On the other hand, Congress chief minister Ashok Gehlot filed his nomination papers from Sardarpura Assembly seat on Monday.
Sources said that preparations have started in Udaipur for Prime Minister Modi’s election rally on Thursday. “The most popular leader of our party and the world, Prime Minister Modi, will be addressing many election rallies in Rajasthan. Among a series of election rallies in the state, one such rally has been scheduled in Udaipur on November 9,” a source said.
Party sources claimed that the PM’s rally in Udaipur was planned at short notice and the decision was conveyed to the city unit by the state party chief.
It is learnt Prime Minister Modi will address people from all the 28 Assembly constituencies in the Udaipur region and seek their support and votes for BJP candidates. “All the BJP candidates, their supporters and people from 28 Assembly constituencies in Udaipur region will attend the Prime Minister’s rally on November 9,” a party leader said.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, meanwhile, filed his nomination papers from Sardarpura seat in Jodhpur district. Sardarpura is seen as a Congress stronghold,with Mr Gehlot winning from this seat in all elections since 1998. He got 63 per cent votes in the 2018 Assembly elections.
The chief minister’s wife Sunita Gehlot and son Vaibhav Gehlot accompanied him when he filed his nomination papers. Before filing his nomination, the chief minister took his sister’s blessings.
Addressing a public rally held after Mr Gehlot filed his nomination papers for the November 25 elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge derided the ED, CBI and the income-tax department as “jawans” of Mr Modi, and said that before the Prime Minister hits the campaign trail, he sends the Central agencies to target the Opposition. The Congress president also said the Prime Minister was thinking about the poor now because it was election time. His attack came days after the Prime Minister announced the extension of the free ration scheme for five years.
Mr Kharge accused the Modi government of troubling the poor and supporting his industrialist friends like Gautam Adani. In a swipe at Mr Modi, Mr Kharge said that a king, chief minister or Prime Minister usually helps the poor, but one man is helping the rich after getting votes from the poor.
“In his (Modi) era, the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer,” he said, adding that Mr Modi was now thinking about the poor because elections are approaching.
