Baran: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a swipe at Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, calling him a “jaadugar” (magician) and said that his face is fading away with each turning page of the ‘red diary’.
Addressing a public rally in Baran’s Anta in poll-bound Rajasthan, the PM alleged that there is documentation of how the land, forest and water have been sold during the last five years of Congress’ governance in the dairy.
“Nowadays, there is talk of the Red diary, and the Jadugar ji’s face is fading away with each turning page of the Red diary. In this red dairy, it is clearly written how your land, water and forest have been sold out,” the PM said.
#WATCH | Rajasthan Elections | In Anta, Baran, PM Narendra Modi says, “Rajasthan’s “Laal Diary” is being widely discussed. As the pages of this “Laal Diary” are turning, the face of ‘jaadugar’ is falling. This “Laal Diary” clearly states that how Congress government sold your… pic.twitter.com/wHlCV0aWyr
— ANI (@ANI) November 21, 2023
Notably, the BJP has been ramping up its charge that it has in its possession a “Red diary” that contains alleged incriminating material against the Ashok Gehlot-led government and his administration.
Purported pictures of the diary have also surfaced on social media.
In the Assembly session in July, then Minister of State Rajendra Singh Gudha raised the issue of women’s safety in the state and called upon his party’s government to introspect rather than talk about crimes against women in Manipur.
However, within hours, he was sacked by the Gehlot government.
Days later, Gudha came out with a “Red diary”, and shared purported excerpts from it to claim irregularities in elections to the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) headed by Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot.
He also mentioned several alleged corruptions in the Rajasthan government.
#WATCH | Rajasthan Elections | Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting in Kota, says “When Congress was in power in the Centre, there was a tax levied on people earning Rs 2 lakh (per year) or more. Today, no tax is being imposed on people earning up to Rs 7… pic.twitter.com/Fv01uLj45R
— ANI (@ANI) November 21, 2023
PM Modi, hit out at Congress, terming the party a symbol of “corruption, dynasty and appeasement”.
“It has been 75 years since India’s independence. Now, we have the aim of a ‘developed India’ before us. The aim of making India developed is incomplete without making Rajasthan developed. But as long as the three enemies of the country – corruption, dynasty and appeasement – are amid us, it is difficult for this resolution to be fulfilled until then. Congress is the biggest symbol of these three evils,” PM Modi said.
He further said that everyone in the Congress party is “unrestrained”.
“In Congress – be it a minister or MLA – everyone is unrestrained. People are annoyed. Congress has handed over the public of Rajasthan to looters, rioters and criminals…” he added.
Out of the 200 assembly seats in the state, 199 will be contested on November 25 as the elections in the Karanpur assembly constituency were adjourned after the Congress candidate from Karanpur, Gurmeet Singh Koonar, passed away due to sepsis. Koonar was the sitting MLA from Karanpur.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats, while the BJP won 73 seats in the 200-member House. Gehlot eventually took the oath as CM with the support of BSP MLAs and Independents.
