Sachin Pilot targets Modi govt over Rajasthan polling dates

New Delhi, Oct 8: Rajasthan state Congress chief Sachin Pilot on Monday, October 8, questioned the reason behind holding the Assembly elections in the state in the last leg which is December 7 and criticised the BJP-led Centre over it. Of the five states going to election in November and December, Rajasthan and Telangana will see polling on December 7 while that in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will be over by November 28.

Speaking to NDTV, 41-year-old Pilot said the decision to hold elections in Rajasthan after is that of the Election Commission but suspected that the BJP was planning to mobilise all his leaders to the western state after polling gets over in the other states. He said the BJP was perhaps adopting this strategy because it is not very sure about winning the state this time.

He said the BJP might think out its strategies but the people of the state have already made up their mind.

Rajasthan has been witnessing alternative rule between the BJP and Congress since 1993 and the Congress is hopeful that after the five-year term of Vasundhara Raje, they will be back to the throne this time.

"Everything is going right for our party. We are becoming strong. We are first aiming to see the end of Vasundhara Raje government and then we will choose our own leadership," Pilot told NDTV.

He also said that he welcomed the dates of the election and added that the upcoming election will give relief to the people of the state as a change is imminent.

Pilot, son of late Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, said he was surprised to hear Chief Minister Raje promised to give free electricity to the farmers just half an hour before the election schedule was announced. He said the CM had no concern for agriculture and farmers in the last five years but suddenly now she felt about their needs.

The BJP had swept Rajasthan in the 2013 elections, winning 163 out of 200 seats with a voting percentage of 46. The Congress finished a distant second with 21 seats with 33.7 per cent vote share. The National People's Party got four (share 4.3 per cent) and the BSP got three (share 3.4 per cent) seats.