Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday praised the package given by the state government to the martyrs’ families under a state scheme and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for “misguiding” the people and “tainting” the image of Rajasthan.
“The war widows be it of the Pulwama, Balakot or Kargil, the kind of package given by Rajasthan isn’t there anywhere in the country, which was brought by me when was chief minister around 25 years back,” Gehlot told reporters after attending a programme.
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In the package, the state has allotted land, housing, jobs, and schools in the name of martyrs, and even to an extent if the woman is pregnant, the job will be kept reserved, according to Gehlot.
On Saturday, widows of martyrs from across the state met CM Gehlot and gave their support to the current policies announced by the Rajasthan government.
The CM said, “Despite the kind of politics being done by people…to my knowledge they were gathered by leaders as this is election time. Why are they asking for jobs after four years? The incident happened in 2019 but then there was no demand, but suddenly after four years the issue is raised. They (BJP leaders) are misguiding the people and tainting the image of Rajasthan.”
“We are giving a good package to martyrs’ family. How can they ask for jobs for someone else other than the children?” he said. The CM said that he had met the war widows on Saturday who said they want jobs to be reserved for their children.
He added “Such activities don’t suit the opposition… they are in the centre despite their failure to play the role of responsible opposition. I believe that those who participated in the protest triggered the issue.”
The widows have been protesting since February 28 and launched an indefinite hunger strike six days ago, demanding a change in rules so that their relatives and not just children can get government jobs on compassionate grounds. Their other demands included the construction of roads and the installation of statues of the martyrs in their villages.
Also Read: Rajnath Singh dials Ashok Gehlot over ‘assault’ on Pulwama soldiers’ widows
On Friday, Rajasthan police removed the widows of the three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers killed in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack from the protest site outside Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s house in Jaipur.
Hundreds of BJP leaders and workers courted arrest on Saturday as the party took out a large protest rally in Jaipur against the Congress government’s insensitivity towards the widows of Pulwama martyrs and alleged manhandling of BJP MPs.
Commenting on Gehlot’s statement, BJP MLA Vasudev Devanani said it is the Congress government which is politicising the issue by suppressing the voice and manhandling the elected representatives.
“The Congress has insulated the army and the war widows. Their own ministers gave assurances to widows and now they are backtracking. The issue could have been resolved by now but why isn’t the CM meeting the widows,” he said.
