Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up Udaipur’s tailor Kanhaiya Lal’s grisly murder and targeted the Congress government in the state over what he called “appeasement politics”. He also slammed the Congress party for worsening law and order, women’s safety issues, terrorism and corruption. This way, PM Modi gave a further push to the issues having “polarising” implications in the assembly elections. Days ahead of this rally, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also invoked the murder case of Kanhaiya Lal in a signal to give polarising overtones to the campaign.
“Under the tenure of Congress, incidents that shame humanity are happening to the people. The terror incident with Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur is a big blot on Congress and it happened because Congress is sympathising with terrorists,” Modi said. This is being seen as an attempt by the PM to set the narrative as having polarising overtones. He also alleged that under the tenure of the Congress, terrorist organisations such as PFI are holding rallies fearlessly in Rajasthan.
PM Modi came down heavily on the Congress government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for alleged failure to ensure the safety of women in Rajasthan. In a bid to strengthen his point on ‘women’s safety’, PM Modi made a veiled reference to an objectionable statement by Shanti Lal Dhariwal, a minister in Rajasthan. Just a day after International Women’s Day, Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Dhariwal had associated the high number of rape cases in Rajasthan. Lamenting the regressive mindset of the Congress leaders, PM Modi remarked, “Congress leaders have called the state of Rajasthan as the land of men, showcasing their regressive mindset, threatening the lives of women and girls.”
PM Modi also fiercely cornered Congress over its objection to his decision to give ration to 80 crore people for five more years. He had announced to extension of the free ration in Madhya Pradesh for five more years, to which Congress lodged its objection with the Election Commission. This way, Modi tried to give a message to the poor in Udaipur that Congress was hindering the virtuous work.
Two days ago, Amit Shah raised issues like women’s safety, the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, corruption and paper leaks in his election rallies, indicating that the BJP will make these issues its real weapon. Prime Minister Modi also raised the same issues and kept focus on women voters. He said that only the BJP guarantees the safety of women.
Highlighting the corruption issues, Modi said that Congress-led misrule has stifled Rajasthan’s integrity. On the issue of corruption in the state, Modi stated, “BJP Government in Rajasthan will put an end to corruption and will also unearth the ‘Lal Diary’ which is a repository of Congress-led scams in the state.” PM Modi also criticised the Congress for the corruption associated with the paper leaks which are run by mafias, destabilising the lives of youth in the state, and promised strict action against them. He set the narrative for the BJP to focus on the issue of corruption during the campaign.
It became clear from the Prime Minister’s speech that by making polarization an issue, the BJP will attack Congress more on the issue of “appeasement”. The other key issues will be women’s safety, paper leaks and corruption. He gave a message to the tribals of the state by mentioning the welfare schemes taken up by the Center to help the tribals of Mewar and also mentioned the works like the construction of toilets. Modi said that Rajasthan has suffered a loss due to the lack of a double-engine government. Money from central schemes went into corruption. Modi also took a dig at the internal feuds of the Congress. The Prime Minister said, “Congress govt was busy deciding who would sit on the CM’s chair and wasted 5 years of Rajasthan…In this fight for the chair, Congress did not care about public issues.”
