Rajasthan CM hits out at Modi govt in his Independence Day speech

Jaipur, Aug 15 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday hit out at the Modi government during his Independence Day speech at the SMS stadium here.

Gehlot attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying: "The country's economy is in bad shape due to faulty policies of the Central government." If economy gets worse, the state governments suffer, and hence it's quite normal for state governments to worry at this point of time, he added.

"Today, electricity is being supplied in each household, education and medicines have been made available and around 100 satellites are being launched at one go. All these developments have not come only after 2014," he said.

"It's been the efforts of collective governments. Big projects of dams, canals were started during Nehru era. Nehru had laid the foundation of India on which the country stands today."

"It would not have been feasible to launch satellites to Mars and the moon had we not had IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), NDA (National Defence Academy) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)."

He said that an impression is being created that all developments in the country took place only after 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led dispensation came to power.

Gehlot also cited the example of Pakistan saying that democracy in that country was murdered several times by imposing military rule.

"However, democracy in India remained strong after the independence. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi liberated Bangladesh which is quite a big accomplishment," he said.

"There were tense situations in the city (Jaipur) for the last two days. As I appealed to people to maintain peace, Wednesday night passed off peacefully," he added.

Jaipur has witnessed clashes between two communities since Monday night, and hence Section 144 has been clamped in 15 police station areas in old part of Jaipur.