JAMMU, Apr 16: Congress leader Sachin Pilot hit the campaign trail here on Tuesday as a star campaigner and attacked the Election Commission (EC) for “remaining silent” when the accounts of the main opposition party were frozen and elected chief ministers were sent to jail.
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Campaigning for his party’s candidate Choudhary Lal Singh from the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, Pilot accused the BJP government of playing “religious politics to divert attention from its failures” on the development front.
“The Election Commission is watching as a mute spectator. In connection with the Chandigarh mayoral elections, we had to move to the Supreme Court for justice, and we got it. They sealed the accounts of the Congress, put elected chief ministers in jail, and tried to muzzle the opposition,” Pilot said while addressing a rally.
He criticised the BJP leaders for allegedly using religion for political gains, saying, “They centre their politics around issues like mandir-masjid, Hindu-Muslim, Hindustan and Pakistan. However, they show little interest in issues concerning schools, colleges, hospitals, economy, employment, women, youth, farmers, and inflation.”
Pilot claimed that there is a wave of change sweeping the entire country.
“I went to Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Harayan, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh. I want to tell you – it is not true what the media and social media is projecting. But the truth is that the 10-year rule of the BJP government is being questioned by the people. People are seeking a report card of ten years’ rule of the BJP government on the ground,” he said.
Highlighting the Congress manifesto, Pilot mentioned five major announcements, including a guarantee that women from poor families would receive Rs 1 lakh in their accounts annually.
“Under the rule of the lieutenant governor, outsiders are encroaching lands. Lands that are being cultivated are being snatched from the people and given to outsiders,” he further alleged.
Hitting out at the BJP leaders over their remarks on assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “I want to tell you that elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held before September this year. It is not the government saying so but the order of the Supreme Court.”
Pilot said that in a similar way, the Ram temple was built after the Supreme court’s judgment. “It was a judgement of the Supreme court that the Ram temple be constructed in Ayodhya. It was an order of the Supreme Court that electoral bonds are illegal. These things have been done on orders of the Supreme court”, he said.
The Udhampur Lok Sabha seat is set to go to polls on April 19. The BJP has fielded Union Minister Jitendra Singh from the constituency, seeking to retain the seat for the third time. The Congress has pitted Choudhary Lal Singh against him. The entry of former minister G M Saroori on the ticket of the Democratic Azad Party (DPAP) has made it a three-cornered contest. (AGENCIES)
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