Congress will retain power in Rajasthan riding on development: Azad

Jaipur: Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said the Congress will retain power in Rajasthan riding on the development works carried out by the Gehlot government. "Impressive works have been done in Rajasthan in all sectors -- be it education, health, infrastructure, power generation or uplifting the minority...And looking at the works, I believe that the party will retain power," Azad told reporters at the state Congress headquarters here. The Congress government focusses on development works, instead of depending on marketing skills to win votes, he said, in an apparent dig at the opposition BJP. Comparing the five-year Congress rule with the erstwhile BJP regime, Azad said several big projects, including the Metro Rail in Jaipur and oil refinery in Barmer, have come up in Rajasthan during the past five years. "In education sector, our government gave sanctions for 56 boys and as many girls` hostels for minority and 21 model schools for them," he said. During the BJP rule, midday meal was not served in Madrassas whereas the Gehlot government made arrangement to serve midday meal in 3,507 madrassas, he said. As many as 148 polytechnic colleges were opened in the past five years, whereas the BJP government set up only 34. "We distributed 3.47 lakh cycles to school students and this number was 29,651 in the BJP rule," he said. "The Congress government remained far ahead of the BJP regime in taking up infrastructure development projects or social security schemes," Azad said.

The Union minister justified his party`s demand for ban on opinion polls, saying it was necessary to ensure that no external agency influence voters. "Free and fair poll means that the voter`s mind is free and fair... The ban on opinion polls is a justified move," he said.