Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, saying that those raising questions on Congress should delve into the history first.
He said that only those who know history well can create history. Gehlot said that PM Modi should see the achievements of the Congress governments in India. It is the Congress that took the country to an unprecedented growth trajectory, he added. Several achievements on both the domestic and the foreign fronts go to the credit of the Congress-led governments in the past, he said.
Those who are dreaming about Congress-mukt Bharat will be nowhere to be seen in future, Gehlot remarked, targeting the BJP for this slogan. “Congress will always remain here,” he asserted.
Ashok Gehlot was replying to the debate on the budget in the Assembly on Thursday. He accused the Central government of not releasing the financial share of the state governments for many schemes. He said that Jal Shakti Minister at the Centre is from Rajasthan but he is not raising any issue of the state there. Similarly, 25 Lok Sabha MPs from Rajasthan are not able to raise local issues at the Centre.
The CM also slammed the former CAG for questioning the old pension scheme. He criticized the decision of the then Vajpayee government abolishing the pension scheme.
He said that all the employees across the country have welcomed his decision to revive the old pension scheme. The Chief Minister said that the Modi government should implement the state’s Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee scheme as well. However, the PM may change the name if he has a problem with it, he added.
Gehlot claimed that his government had waived off loans of farmers who were under state jurisdiction within three days. But the centre has to take a decision regarding the loans of the nationalized banks, he added. When UPA was in power, Dr Manmohan Singh had waived off loans of farmers worth Rs 75 thousand crores, Gehlot said, adding that the Modi government should also follow suit. He also explained his government’s achievements in tackling the Covid pandemic in Rajasthan.
He claimed to have fulfilled 70 per cent of promises of the Congress manifesto in the state. He said that the opposition should not be worried about where the money will come from to implement the schemes announced in the budget. He further asked the opposition members to persuade the Centre to send state’s grants.
The CM asked the leader of Opposition to take lead to see that ARCP is declared a national project. Gehlot said that the state government has already announced Rs 9600 crore budgetary allocation for this.
CM Gehlot said that the Centre should also follow the state government by implementing Chiranjeevi Health Insurance scheme under which insurance cover has been doubled from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.