Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
and his predecessor Vasundhara Raje today hit out at each other over the issue of agitation by the village heads in the state who have been demanding more powers.
"BJP hijacked the Sarpanch (village head) stir but it
turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt to trigger violence
using public representatives as tool. The stir ended
peacefully today and their conspiracy to break down law and
order completely failed," Gehlot told reporters.
He said Raje, the former chief minister, went to the
agitation venue thrice and wanted her to clarify which of
their demands she had been supporting. "Actual demands must
have been transfer of subjects to local bodies to strengthen
Panchayti Raj, but they did not talk about this," he said.
"BJP leaders have no right to talk about the rights of
sarpanches as they, when in power last time, had snatched
various rights given to panchayat bodies by the Congress
government," charged Gehlot.
On the other hand, Raje alleged that Gehlot dispensation
wanted to divert the attention of the people over the issue as
his government was non-performing.
"The Congress government is weak, non-performing and has
no confidence so they are only attacking me instead of facing
the challenge. There were several issues to discuss in the
assembly but the session concluded in just three days. It shows the government is not confident," she said.
"Yes, I had gone to the agitation venue but over a moral
issue, not to conspire...It was an emergency-like situation in
the state capital today. Sarpanches, who were sleeping, were
lathicharged and taken to jail. It was condemnable," she said.
When asked about the next step of the party, she said,
"It was purely an issue of sarpanches and now they will have
to decide. BJP has no role in their decisions."
PTI
First Published: Saturday, September 04, 2010, 00:08