“The key issue of Rajasthan elections 2023 is the seven guarantees being given by the Congress party. I challenge opposition party leader Vasundhara Raje to have a debate with me on this,” Gehlot said on X.
Launching BJP’s campaign at places like Bali, Bilara and Pali on Thursday, Raje had said, “It is surprising that the Congress, which does not have its own guarantee, has now started giving guarantees.People are not fools to fall prey to the false promises of the Congress.”
“All during its tenure, the Congress has given wounds to the people. Now it is handing out reliefs towards the end of its rule, which is nothing but a drama. This government is opening its coffers, which is just a farce. People know the truth of these last moment reliefs very well. The five years of this government are black chapters which had the tears of farmers, screams of women, persecution of Dalits and despair of youth,” she had added.
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Ashok Gehlot has announced seven guarantees, which include providing laptops to government college students, English medium education to every student and an annual honorarium of Rs 10,000 to the woman head of a family, if the Congress returns to power in Rajasthan.
The Rajasthan Congress has appointed seven incharges and three coordinators for the promotion of its seven guarantees ahead of the upcoming state polls. These incharges and coordinators will take the Congress’ guarantees to every household as part of the ‘Congress Guarantee Yatra.’
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The Congress is going all out to buck the trend in 2023 assembly elections as Rajasthan has generally alternated between the BJP and the Congress every five years. The grand old party has appointed five senior leaders as special observers including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to boost its campaign.
Senior leaders Mukul Wasnik, Jitendra Singh, Shaktisinh Gohil, and Shakeel Ahmad Khan are the other special observers for the elections. The appointments were approved by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
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Ashok Gehlot has announced several welfare schemes in the run-up to the polls and the party is projecting “a picture of unity.”
The BJP, on the other hand, is confident about victory in the state. Led by Prime Minister Modi, the BJP is running a strong campaign in the state to return to power.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress had won 100 seats, while the BJP could manage only 73. However, the difference in vote share of the two parties was very marginal. While the Congress had a vote share of 39.30%, the BJP got 38.8%. The BSP with 4% vote share and 6 seats was the only other player that had some presence.
(With inputs from agencies)
Congress workers protest outside Rajasthan ED office against ED raids in the state