Curtains fall on bitter Rajasthan poll campaign

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, November 23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “punish Congress” call and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s “don’t believe in BJP’s lies” remarks capped a bitter Rajasthan election campaign on Friday as rivals geared up for the D-Day. Elections in the state are on Saturday.

The last day of campaigning saw PM Modi launch a frontal attack on the incumbent Congress, accusing it of “institutionalising the politics of appeasement, corruption and dynasty”.

He questioned Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot for doubting the veracity of sexual assault complaints and one of his aides for justifying rising crimes with “Rajasthan is a state of macho men” remarks. “Is this not an insult to the men of the state who have laid down their lives to guard the honour of mothers and daughters? I want to see your rage. Will you punish the Congress?” said the PM, while addressing a rally in Deogarh today wrapping up a high-pitched BJP campaign.

The Congress meanwhile exuded confidence that voters would reject “BJP’s lies and hate and will rely on CM Gehlot’s guarantees”.

Kharge said the PM and the Home Minister were busy making hollow, absurd and divisive remarks in the state known for its valour and self-pride.

“They can’t even digest the seven guarantees of the Congress. This time people will not fall for BJP lies, deception and hateful words,” Kharge said, adding that the guarantees had ensured a favourable environment for the Congress and people had decided to change the tradition.

In Rajasthan, incumbents have been voted out every five years since 1998, a trend Gehlot seeks to buck.

Overall the campaign, which saw Congress fielding top guns Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, was marked by increasingly shrill rhetoric which came to a head this week with Rahul Gandhi’s “panauti (the harbinger of bad luck) comment for the PM.

Acrimony lingered even on the last day of canvasing with BJP’s Shivraj Chouhan calling Rahul a “national problem” at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara.