Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Congress-led government in Rajasthan on Thursday, claiming that the state’s communal conflicts were orchestrated in advance and that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s failure to act decisively against the rioters was a result of “vote bank” politics. Speaking at a press conference in Jaipur on the final day of the Rajasthan Assembly election campaign, Amit Shah cited a number of incidents in the state as evidence of the Gehlot-led Congress government’s appeasement tactics.
“Appeasement politics crossed all limits during Gehlot’s government. In the last 5 years, planned riots have taken place in Chhabra, Bhilwara, Karauli, Jodhpur, Chittorgarh, Nohar, Mewat, Malpura, and Jaipur. Due to vote bank politics, the Gehlot government did not take any concrete action against the rioters. Bulldozer was used on Ram Darbar in Salasar. In Alwar, a Shivalinga was broken with a drilling machine. A bulldozer rammed the cow shed in Kathumar; you can see many such cases of appeasement in Rajasthan in the last five years,” Amit Shah said.
The union minister went on to show his confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning the elections for the assembly. “I’ve been to Rajasthan during the past six months. After touring the whole state of Rajasthan, I can state with certainty that the BJP will form the state’s next administration. Everywhere in Rajasthan, people are feeling differently,” Shah remarked.