'WE'RE WAY AHEAD IN THE RACE'

UNION MINISTER GAJENDRA SHEKHAWAT GIVES THE OPPOSITION BJP'S TAKE IN WHAT IS PROVING TO BE A CLOSELY FOUGHT CAMPAIGN. EXCERPTS:

Q. The BJP seems to have enlisted a surfeit of leaders in Rajashtan. Isn’t it better to have a CM face?

A. It does help to have a CM face, but then it may also result in intra-party rivalry. We will win Rajasthan comfortably. It is not just anti-incumbency against the Ashok Gehlot government, but the people want the BJP back in power. The voters feel if PM Modi can do it for India, his government can do so much for Rajasthan. We don’t just have an edge, we are way ahead in the race. It is because of the way we planned our campaign a year back, taking out yatras and building on the anti-incumbency.

Q. CM Gehlot says the welfare measures he launched are the Congress’s USP this election?

A. The promises he made before the last election have not been fulfilled, nor have any of the big projects been completed. The same is the case with his government’s welfare schemes. For instance, if you look at the free smartphones scheme, we found them to be of rather poor quality. And then they have been given to just one-tenth of the population he had promised, and it cost the government a lot more than the actual value. We have convinced the people that it is a scam, and at their cost. It is the same for his other schemes too. All sorts of illegal activities and corruption are happening under the protection of MLAs. That is why there is so much anti-incumbency against Congress MLAs.