BJP trying to prepare ground for making India Hindu rashtra: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday alleged that the BJP government at the Centre is trying to prepare the ground for making India a "Hindu rashtra" instead of focusing on the country's economy. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the chief minister said they are trying to create a "division" in the name of religion and questioned whether the country would remain intact if they continue doing so.

"A dangerous game is being played. The ground is being prepared on how to take things towards the making of a Hindu rashtra. Economy must be the prime agenda for the government but instead the agenda of the government is Article 370 and provocation in the name of nationalism," Gehlot said here at a press conference here. He said the amended citizenship law is "impractical" and therefore it cannot be implemented.

"The northeast is burning. There is widespread reaction to the amendment. This will not be implemented because this is impractical. Six-seven states have already said this. The government should repeal it," the chief minister said. He alleged the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate are conducting raids on the directions of the that the Prime Minister's Office.

The chief minister said during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government rule, talks of India's emergence as "economic superpower" used to be there and comparison used to be between India and China in context of economic growth but now the government has create an atmosphere where talks of India and Pakistan are there. "What is Pakistan as compared to India? Pakistan's prime minister has himself stated that they cannot stand in comparison to India but now there are talks of India-Pakistan," he said.

The chief minister claimed that the Centre has significantly cut grants of the state which is a matter of concern. "States are suffering due to wrongdoings of the Centre. The grants from the Centre to Rajasthan have been cut by Rs 11,000 crore. How the developmental activities will take place?" he questioned.

The senior Congress leader also alleged that electoral bond is a scandal and the BJP government is running a campaign to end other political parties. "Where is democracy?" he asked.

Targeting PM Modi and Home Minister Shah over the BJP's 'Congress-mukt Bharat' slogan, Gehlot said they have realised their agenda of a Congress-free India cannot be fulfilled. "After Haryana and Maharashtra assembly results, they have realised that the BJP's graph is going down. They will never say Congress-free India. People have wisdom and they understand what is going on," he said.

The chief minister also accused the BJP of trying to mislead the youths and spending crores of rupees to run propaganda.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)