BJP attacks Congress in Rajasthan, alleges misuse of government funds for party’s publicity

“I am myself confused whether it was a Congress programme or a government programme. As per advertisements by the Congress party, it was the launch of Indira Rasoi Scheme (Rural), a government scheme. So if it was the launch of a government scheme then how could it be a party programme?” asked Poonia, the former BJP state president.

“It was a government programme and hence Additional Chief Secretary level officers were there, and the backdrop was also of the government. Moreover, Arun Joshi, Additional Director with the state’s Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), was hosting the event. So if it was a government programme, why were the speakers constantly mentioning the All India Congress Committee?” Poonia asked.

He said that on the contrary, “If it was a party programme, then what were the government officers doing on the stage? Making a khichdi of the government and the party is not ethical.”

“And in what capacity was Priyanka Gandhi present as the chief guest at a government programme? She is not an MP,” he said, adding, “This is being discussed in party circles… we will take legal opinion.”
Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore said, “For ten years, Sonia Gandhi ji ran the Manmohan Singh government from behind the curtains. Now Priyanka Gandhi inaugurating a government scheme tells that Gandhi family considers Constitutional responsibilities as small.”

While the Sunday launch was a government programme, the scheme was, however, launched by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.

Almost all top Congress leaders present on the stage including Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, party state president Govind Singh Dotasra, Assembly Speaker C P Joshi, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, and party’s state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa exhorted the audience to re-elect the Congress government in Rajasthan.
In his address, CM Gehlot said, “Wherever I go, I feel that the public has made up its mood to repeat the government, I can say this with certainty.”

“I would like to ask Prime Minister Modi ji and (Home Minister) Amit Shah ji: why do you end up taking the name of Gandhi family again and again. Why are you scared even by the name of this family? We are proud that we have been getting the leadership of this family…” Gehlot said.

While mentioning the contributions of the Congress party and the sacrifices by its leaders and workers pre and post-Independence, Gehlot said, “Ask the BJP people where were you during Independence? Did you get even a finger cut?”

While CM is usually the last person to address such state government programmes, Priyanka Gandhi was the last one to speak on Sunday.

Hosting the event was Arun Joshi, and briefly, it was Congress spokesperson R C Choudhary.
Choudhary invited Randhawa to the podium “as state in-charge,” and in his address, Randhawa said, “I can say with full confidence that Congress will repeat in 2023.”

State president Dotasra welcomed, among others, “the office-bearers of Pradesh Congress Committee.” He said that with the coordination between the government and the party, “every worker will have to go to village and hutments and bring a Congress government again in 2023 with a huge majority and wipe out the Modi government in 2024.”
Assembly Speaker C P Joshi began his address with, “AICC General Secretary and our leader, the respected Priyanka Gandhi…” and said, “I believe your arrival will lead to new energy in Rajasthan and we will all make a Congress government in Rajasthan.”

“BJP people… say that they built the country but this country was built through policies of the Congress party leaders,” Joshi said.

Sachin Pilot too made a political speech mentioning Congress party in the context of elections. Referring to Priyanka Gandhi, he said, “When you come, it spreads energy among the people and the public. We all know when you campaigned in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, it led to the formation of Congress governments. ”

He also thanked Gehlot for “sarkar ke tamam adhikariyon ne jo is karyakram mein yojana banane mein yogdan diya (all the government officials who contributed in planning for this programme).”
Cabinet minister for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, Ramesh Meena, said he “would like to request all to vote for Congress in the upcoming 2023 (Assembly) elections and repeat the government. It is the responsibility of all of you.”

To avoid similar allegations of impropriety, political parties usually make a clear distinction in rallies. For example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held two rallies in Dausa on February 12, first to launch the completed Delhi – Lalsot – Dausa leg of Delhi Mumbai highway, and the second one a party programme.

Similarly, the PM had two rallies in Sikar on July 27: the first was Kisan Sammelan, a government programme where he launched various development works, and second was the party’s public programme.

In adjacent Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav used to be invited to son Akhilesh Yadav’s public programmes – when Akhilesh was CM – and addressed as the former Union Defence Minister or the former CM. Often, Rahul Gandhi is officially invited to public programmes by Congress governments in states as a Lok Sabha MP.

On Sunday, all the leaders who spoke from the podium were ministers or MLAs, including Randhawa – who is an MLA from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab and is also a former deputy CM – bar Priyanka.

Five years ago, in 2018, the High Court had restrained the Vasundhara Raje government from organising programmes along the route of the CM’s Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra. The PIL leading to the censure had cited reports in The Indian Express, among others.

The court had said inaugurating public programmes during a political rally “would be the glorification of the political party and not the glorification of the achievements by the government.”

While BJP leaders, including then state president Madan Lal Saini and Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria had maintained that the yatra was a party programme, the government had pressed its departments, such as the Public Works Department and DIPR, for the yatra.