Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said the BJP was not going to win in any of the five States which went to polls this month, claiming that the Congress would return to power in Rajasthan irrespective of the exit poll results. The results of the Assembly elections will be declared on December 3.
“The BJP is not going to form the government in any of the five States. Exit polls may say something and surveys might suggest something, but based on the people’s feedback in the cities and villages, our government is set to come back in Rajasthan,” Mr. Gehlot told presspersons in New Delhi.
Mr. Gehlot’s remarks came on the day of polling in Telangana, hours before the exit poll trends and results were announced by various media outlets.
Also read | LIVE: Rajasthan Election Results 2023
‘No anti-incumbency in Rajasthan’
The Chief Minister said that the Rajasthan government was the only one in the country which was not facing any anti-incumbency factor. “Even the BJP’s voters are saying that the Chief Minister has left no stone unturned in carrying out development works,” he said, adding that this would be a major reason for the return of the Congress to power.
Mr. Gehlot said that BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Chief Ministers of several States, had used the “language of intimidation and vengeance” during their election campaign and sought to create tension and polarise the society. “No one liked their language. Their own speeches will backfire on them,” he said.
The CM alleged that the BJP leaders had especially targeted him because they could not pull down his government like they did in States such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. “They were frustrated by their failure. They had hatched plans in Delhi to topple the Congress government, but couldn’t succeed,” he said.
‘BJP misusing agencies’
The BJP government at the Centre was putting pressure on Central institutions and destroying the credibility of investigating agencies by misusing them, Mr. Gehlot said. He said that agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax Department were important for controlling economic offences and increasing revenue, but their use against politicians was dangerous for democracy.
Asked about the summons issued by a court in Uttar Pradesh to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Gehlot said that the repeated attacks on Mr. Gandhi would cost the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. “His [Lok Sabha] membership is not going to be affected. The BJP is killing democracy and the Constitution by its conspiracies,” he said.
