Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday declared If a Congress government comes in Rajasthan in the upcoming assembly elections, the party would come to power at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections too.

Hitting his campaign trail with a mammoth public meeting at PCC’s Poll Yatra on the issue of the eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) at Baran district headquarters’ ground, Kharge said, “Would you like to have a welfare government, a government that works on plans, not a government of liars? If your answer is yes, then the Congress government should come in Rajasthan and in 2024 a Congress government will also come in Delhi (at the Centre).”

Referring to oft-repeated allegation of the controversial ‘Red Diary’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi blaming the Ashok Gehlot Government for scams and irregularities, he said, “I must tell you what Red Diary has in upcoming assembly elections, the Congress would form the government in the state.”

“Modiji always talks of red, and yellow diaries. He won’t talk about the welfare and flagship schemes of the Gehlot Government. You (Modi) give zero mark to Rajasthan because the state government has waived off crop loans worth Rs 76,000 crore to 21 lakh farmers, the Right To Health Scheme, Rs 25 lakh worth of health insurance, old age pension, the Urban Employment Scheme, etc.,” he pointed out.

On the pending ERCP project, Kharge said, “Narendra Modi promised it, but failed to keep his word. He only promised Rajasthan a national project status for the ERCP twice during the last Lok Sabha polls, but the Gehlot Government earmarked Rs 25,000 crore from his budget for the same.

In a direct attack on the PM, Kharge said, “Modi keeps himself busy in election campaigns, but hardly attends Parliament. In Karnataka, he hit the streets asking for votes. Like Modi, Gehlot didn’t come, speak and leave, but worked to fulfill his promises. The person, who knows the problems of the poor, can solve them.”

In another direct remark on the PM, Kharge alleged that Modi pretends to have faith. In this context, he termed the prime minister’s visit to Parvati-Kund in white attires a showoff. “Inake khane ke daant alag hain, dikhaane ke daant alag hain. (He has one set of teeth for eating and another for display),” he said.

Calling women’s reservation a dream of the Congress party since late Rajiv Gandhi’s time, Kharge said, “I want the census done so that people from backward classes become stronger along with others. The Congress believes in the philosophy of sharing.”

Commenting on the toppling of the elected governments and horse trading of MLAs, Kharge said, “Gehlot and the MLAs saved the government from the nefarious designs. If this government had not survived, how could these schemes have come into existence? BJP people toppled governments in Karnataka, Goa, and Manipur. It is their habit to form their own government by buying those who get elected where they fail to get elected. You (the public) have saved the government in the state. This is the reason why such programmes and public welfare schemes could see the light of the day.”

Speaking on the occasion, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, “The Central government is angry with Vasundhara Raje. They won’t get along well with Vasundhara. We do not want to say anything about this, it’s their internal matter. Rajasthan gave them 25 MPs, but none have anything to say on ERCP. It’s the PM who had promised to declare it a national project by naming 13 districts.”

The ERCP Yatra will cover 13 districts starting from the Baran district. It will traverse 83 assembly constituencies. The 13 districts are Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawaimadhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur, and Dholpur.

If ERCP is declared a national project, the 13 districts of the state would get drinking and irrigation water. Dams, canals, and other projects would be built under the project worth more than Rs 40,000 crore. The districts to benefit from the ERCP include Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Jaipur, Ajmer, Tonk, Bundi, Kota, Baran and Jhalawar.