Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said he understands the tricks used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches, days after the top BJP leader addressed him as his “friend” while taking a veiled swipe at the infighting in state Congress. Addressing a programme at the Rajasthan College in Jaipur, the senior Congress leader said the prime minister would begin his speech with the words "my friend Ashok Gehlot" and then criticise his government in a harsh manner.
Referring to Modi's speech delivered virtually at the launch of Rajasthan's first Vande Bharat train on April 12, Gehlot said, "The prime minister had recently joined a VC (video-conference) from Delhi.... He started his speech saying 'my friend Ashok Gehlot'. And they will do whatever they want with my government (meri sarkar ki aisi ki taisi karenge). This is cleverness."
"I understand all these tricks…I too have been doing politics for a long time," he said.
Prime Minister Modi last Wednesday called Gehlot a "friend" and thanked him for attending the launch of a Vande Bharat Express even though he is going through “several crises”, in what was seen as a veiled jibe at Rajasthan chief minister's tussle with his former deputy Sachin Pilot.
Gehlot is facing a fresh challenge from Pilot, who sat on a day-long fast in Jaipur on Tuesday against his own party's government for "inaction" in cases of alleged corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government.
{{/usCountry}}Gehlot is facing a fresh challenge from Pilot, who sat on a day-long fast in Jaipur on Tuesday against his own party's government for "inaction" in cases of alleged corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government.
{{/usCountry}}"I express my special gratitude to Gehlot ji. During these days of political struggle when he is going through several crises, he took out the time for development work and participated in a railway programme. I welcome him," Modi said.
Gehlot later issued a statement attacking Modi over his remarks targeting the previous governments. He said the prime minister's comments were made with an eye on the coming assembly and general elections and added that it was not fair to say the development of railways happened only after 2014.
"Today, your speech was given completely keeping in view the 2023-24 assembly and Lok Sabha elections and it was in the form of the election agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party. I believe such comments will not be acceptable to the people of the state and the country," the Rajasthan chief minister said.