Rajasthan CM says that there’s an undeclared emergency in country and atmosphere of fear
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attacked the Congress in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said there was an undeclared emergency in the country and no one knew in which direction the nation was headed.
“Today there is an undeclared emergency in the country and the situation is worrisome as there is an atmosphere of fear. Democracy is in danger. L K Advani ji had indicated this as soon as the government was formed. There was pressure on him from the RSS and he had to shut up, the entire country knows,” Gehlot said.
The Rajasthan CM was speaking to journalists after attending the ‘Chintan Shivir’ of the Congress in Jair. Replying to the debate in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address, PM Modi had held the Congress responsible for a host of issues. Gehlot was reacting to all the points made by the PM.
On PM Modi’s allegation that the Congress instigated labourers to leave for their native states during the Covid lockdown, the Rajasthan CM said the Prime Minister is misleading the nation by making such allegations. “The BJP-led government has created an atmosphere of mistrust and tension in the country,” he asserted.
Gehlot came down heavily on BJP, RSS and PM Modi, asking the government to focus on development issues instead of making baseless allegations. Gehlot said: “The world knows that the Emergency was imposed and a decision was taken. After that, our government fell. Everyone knows that the Emergency was imposed, why it was imposed and what happened during the Emergency.”
“Will you keep telling the shortcomings (of the previous governments) or make your own history?” Gehlot asked.
There is an atmosphere of violence, unrest, mistrust and tension in the country, he added. He said that on the contrary, PM Modi was telling us that we are provoking people.
Gehlot said that the Modi government’s decisions to suddenly implement demonetisation and impose lockdown led to a massive crisis in the country, with common people continuing to suffer.
On the issue of the REET paper leak, Gehlot said that those involved in this case will not be spared under any circumstances. He accused the Opposition of instigating the youth over this issue. “The SOG is doing its work impartially. That is why the accused are being caught and new revelations are being made every day,” he said.
The Rajasthan CM alleged that the opposition is demanding a CBI inquiry into the case so that the state government could be defamed. “I had said earlier also that the easiest thing for the government to do is to cancel the exam and get it re-conducted. In the interest of the youth, the government gave a free hand to the SOG,” he said.
He said to the satisfaction of lakhs of candidates, the state government has decided to cancel the REET Level – 2 exam and reconduct it by increasing 30,000 posts.
The CM said, “The BJP, which has been repeatedly demanding a CBI inquiry on every case, should tell the results of the investigations given to the CBI in the last three years,” he said, citing some of such cases.