Tonk (Rajasthan): Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday accused Rajasthan chief minister of cheating the people of the state and misleading them on the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP). The politics of the Congress is causing harm to the common people, he said.
Also, Shekhawat questioned as to why former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot became silent after taking out a yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur against corruption and government recruitment exam paper leaks.
After arriving at Tonk to attend a BJP meeting, Shekhawat told at a press conference that the Congress leaders were making ERCP an election issue by misleading people and spreading lies about it. He even got furious after a journalist repeatedly questioned him on the issue and said that the latter was free to leave the room.
He said that ERCP is an important project. Technical approval is given by the Central Water Commission only when the project is planned at 75 percent dependency but the Ashok Gehlot government wants to do 50 percent dependency, he said.
Deliberating on the issue, Shekhawat alleged that the chief minister and water resources minister were asked to attend meetings nine times but they did not turn up. "Finally, we arranged a meeting in Jaipur in April 2022 after consulting Gehlot but the chief minister's office sent a letter at the last moment informing that neither the CM nor the minister would be able to attend it. Though Rajasthan officials agreed, the ERCP could not be materialised," he added.
"Congress came to power in 2018 by making false promises and assurances. The government failed to keep any of the promises that it had made prior to the polls", he said. Congress had talked of waiving the loans of the farmers which is yet to be fulfilled, he added.
"While all governments bought millets, Rajasthan, which is the largest millet producing state, did not make any procurement from the farmers as a result of which lakhs of farmers suffered. Instead of providing unemployment allowance, the future of the youth has been doomed. A total of 16 papers were leaked during the Congress-led government's tenure," he said.
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The Union Minister said that Rajasthan, which is a land of Panna Dhai and Meera Bai is now an unsafe place for women. He criticised the current law and order situation in the state saying incidents of Bhilwara and Dosa reveal that there is "Jungle Raj" in Rajasthan. He also mentioned about rampant corruption in the Panchayat Samiti and Municipal Council.
