Congress claims beneficiaries for PM’s Rajasthan event are BJP workers

The Congress on Thursday alleged that the beneficiaries of welfare schemes being invited by the Rajasthan government for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally on July 7 are all workers and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a charge denied by the state’s panchayati raj minister.

Modi is visiting Jaipur to interact with more than 250,000 beneficiaries of the 12 welfare schemes of the Central and state governments to showcase the positive impact of the government’s social welfare programmes.

Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress said district collectors have been told to ferry BJP workers in the name of beneficiaries as state guests, providing them board and lodging.

“The intention of the BJP behind gathering a crowd of BJP workers in the name of beneficiaries in an election year is to win the election by hook or by crook,” Gehlot said in a statement on Thursday. Elections in Rajasthan are due by the end of the year.

The state’s panchayati raj and rural development minister Rajendra Rathore denied the charge. “People coming to the event are not BJP workers but beneficiaries. The district collectors have been asked to monitor the arrangements,” he said.

The police, meanwhile, are ensuring they aren’t caught on the wrong foot as they were in March 2018 when some of the people attending a Modi rally in Jhu- njhunu waved black flags at the Prime Minister. Back then, the BJP had accused the Congress of masterminding the protest.

A district level senior police officer, who didn’t want to be named, added that the police is “concerned about the (political) ideology” of “ people going to interact with the PM to prevent any embarrassment.”

A former director general of police said on condition of anonymity that “there’s nothing wrong in it”. “The police are doing this to avoid any disruptions in the event and ensuring that the people coming to the event are not hardcore political activists.”