Gehlot slams Disturbed Areas Act, accuses BJP Govt of ‘Divide and Rule’ politics

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has strongly condemned the Bhajanlal Sharma-led BJP government in the state for legislating the Disturbed Areas Act, terming it a tool in the party’s “divide and rule” agenda.

The three-time former Chief Minister said the BJP government had brought the law to divert people’s attention from its all-round failures in governance, and warned that it could push a peaceful state like Rajasthan into an atmosphere of hatred.

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“It is most unfortunate that, in an attempt to conceal its political failures, the BJP government has introduced the Disturbed Areas Act. Such a divisive law deserves outright condemnation,” he said.

Gehlot further stated that, on the other hand, the Right to Health law, enacted by the previous Congress government to guarantee healthcare for crores of people in the state, has been put on the back burner.

He added that the country’s first-ever Gig Workers Act, designed to provide social security to lakhs of young people and gig workers, has also been reduced to nothing more than a piece of scrap paper by the current government.

“This clearly reflects the difference in thinking between the BJP and the Congress,” he said.

“The guiding principle of the Congress has always been public welfare, whereas the BJP’s guiding mantra seems to have become divide and rule,” Gehlot said, adding that the ruling party neither sees the suffering of victims nor the needs of the poor and labourers. “For them, politics is not about public welfare, but about dividing society to capture power.”

The senior Congress leader said the people of Rajasthan are aware and are closely observing this insensitivity, and when the time comes, they will give a befitting reply to the BJP.

The Bill was passed by voice vote in the Rajasthan Assembly here late Friday evening.