Modi seeking votes in name of armed forces: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Miniter Ashok Gehlot Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of seeking votes in the name of the armed forces.

Gehlot pointed out that the partition of Pakistan took place under the regime of former prime minister Indira Gandhi but she gave all the credit to the armed forces.

"Indira Gandhi never said it was her achievement and never sought votes for the partition of Pakistan. The credit was given to the army but Modi wants to take credit of everything," Gehlot said at a rally here in support of party candidate from Jaipur constituency Jyoti Khandelwal.

"He has no achievement to highlight therefore wants to win the election by hiding behind Army. We salute the soldiers and their gallant acts but Modi wants to win elections in their names," he added.

The senior Congress leader further said that those who criticised Modi were tagged as anti-nationals and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a fascist organisation pretending to be democratic.

"They (BJP) say that they will rule for the next 50 years if they win the elections this time. It is the public in democracy that gives the mandate to rule but their intention is to work as fascists under the garb of being democratic," Gehlot said.

"If they win these elections, it is uncertain whether there will be elections in the country in future," he added.

Referring to the Income-Tax raids on the premises of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's close aides, Gehlot asked how many BJP leaders had been raided in the last five years.

"I-T raids are being conducted on our people. Ask Modi ji, whether any such action was taken against anyone in your government? Are all BJP and RSS leaders honest and incorruptible?," said Gehlot.

He further said that former BJP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari, who recently joined the Congress, had raised his voice against the corrupt regime of former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje but the party's senior leadership did not pay heed leaving him with no choice but to quit.

Alleging that demonetisation was a scam, Gehlot said that it will be probed if the UPA forms government at the centre.

"The decision damaged the country, industries were shut, workers lost jobs. Neither black money was curbed nor there was any impact on naxalism or terrorism," he said.

The chief minister further highlighted the achievements of his government and appealed the voters to vote for the Congress.