Jaipur: Union Railway and Information & Broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Thursday challenged Congress to debate any issue in Parliament, saying the Modi govt was prepared to face the opposition, including on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM Bhajan Lal Sharma with Party Workers at Padyatra in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
“Parliament is the country’s biggest panchayat. Come there and put forward your views. The govt is ready to call a special session for a debate on SIR,” Vaishnaw said, adding that politics should not be conducted “through tweets and fights on social media.” He was speaking at a public meeting at Ramleela Maidan under BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
Union Railway and Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday challenged the Congress to come to Parliament and debate any issue of its choice, saying the BJP was ready to take on the opposition on every subject, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw addressing a public meeting at Ramleela Maidan in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw addressing a public meeting at Ramleela Maidan in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
Vaishnaw invoked India’s constitutional and democratic tradition and questioned “whose directions some politicians were following” while attempting to weaken democracy. He said SIR was not new and had been conducted repeatedly since Independence, including during previous Congress govts. “After independence, SIR has been conducted more than 12 times. Its purpose was to clean up electoral rolls, which formed the foundation of democracy. Congress should state facts instead of spreading confusion,” he said. On EVMs, Vaishnaw said Congress introduced these and that “bogus voting” complaints were common earlier. “EVMs improved the electoral process,” he said.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM Bhajan Lal Sharma with Party Workers at Padyatra in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM Bhajan Lal Sharma with Party Workers at Padyatra in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, BJP state president Madan Rathore, state in-charge Sanjay Bhatia and Jaipur MP Manju Sharma also addressed the gathering. During the welcome address, MP Manju Sharma initially forgot to mention BJP state president Madan Rathore. She later corrected herself, saying she had forgotten to mention the name of the family’s head, Madan Rathore.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM Bhajan Lal Sharma with Party Workers at Padyatra in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM Bhajan Lal Sharma with Party Workers at Padyatra in Jaipur under the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ campaign.
State in-charge Sanjay Bhatia made a similar slip and later said with a laugh, “I apologise, the state president’s name was left out. He himself prepared this list but did not include his own name.” Bhatia also took a light-hearted dig at Rathore’s public statements, saying, “Our state president is simple and straightforward. Sometimes things go wrong in front of the media.”
