Congress calls BJP manifesto for Rajasthan assembly election ‘deceptive document’
Rajasthan assembly election 2018: Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that instead of releasing the manifesto (for Rajasthan assembly election), BJP should have released an apology letter.
All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) communication department chairperson Randeep Surjewala came down heavily on the BJP poll manifesto for Rajasthan assembly election, which was released on Tuesday under the title ‘Rajasthan Gaurav Sankalp’.
Addressing media persons at the state Congress headquarters in Jaipur on Tuesday, Surjewala said, “BJP ko sankalp patra ki jagah mafi patra release karna chahiye tha. (Instead of releasing the manifesto, BJP should have released an apology letter).” Surjewala said the manifesto was a ‘chalava patra’ (deceptive document).
Assembly election in the state will be held on December 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 11.
Surjewala targeted major announcements made by the BJP in its manifesto for the farmers and youth. Targeting the announcement made for farmers, Surjewala said, “Jhuth ki buai, jumlo ka khad, kisan se dhoka, vade nahin yaad. (BJP sows lie, recites catch phrases, lie to farmers and have forgotten the promises). The BJP can waive off loans of big businessmen, but cannot waive the loan of farmers. They have announced to create a start-up fund of ₹250 crores for farmers. Meaning each farmer will get a help of ₹50.”
On the announcement made on creation of 50 lakh employment opportunities and 1.5 lakh government jobs in five years, Surjewala said, “In the previous manifesto also chief minister Vasundhara Raje had made a fake promise of providing 15 lakh jobs to the youth of the state. By making this announcement the BJP is trying to create illusion among the youth. The reality is in the past five years the government has only provided 1.5 lakh jobs out of which advertisements for 1 lakh jobs were published by the Congress government.”
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Surjewala accused the BJP government of drowning the treasure of the state with heavy loans. The Congressman claimed that till 2013, Rajasthan had a loan of ₹1, 15,000 crores which had increased to ₹3,08,000 crores. “At present every district have a loan of ₹9,333 crores on its head, every constituency has a loan of ₹1,540 crores and every individual has a loan of ₹45,294 on its head,” said Surjewala.
Citing the NITI Ayog report (2014-16), Surjewala said the state’s health system has been crippled and the child sex ratio has reduced to 861 per 1,000 from 893 per 1,000. He said that Bhamashah Yojana was more of scam than a health insurance scheme.
Surjewala also cornered BJP government on the issue of inflation saying that just ahead of the assembly elections, the state government has reduced the value added tax (VAT) on petrol on diesel by 4% to appease the voters.
Reacting to the allegations of Surjewala, state BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said, “BJP had fulfilled every promise made in the previous manifesto. If you will compare the data of last five years of the BJP government with the 50 years of Congress government, we have performed better. That’s why people will vote for us again.”
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