Gehlot hosts ‘power’ breakfast for Singh

JAIPUR: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s stoppage at Jaipur en route to Dausa on Saturday looked like a show of strength by ex-chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Though the Congress state president Sachin Pilot, leader of opposition Rameshwar Dudi and former cabinet minister Brij Kishore Sharma, along with Gehlot, were among the few party leaders who got to welcome Singh at the Sanganer airport, for the rest of the functions it was the ex-CM who appeared to be in the driving seat.
Gehlot hosted breakfast for Singh at his residence in Civil Lines where state Congress senior leaders too were invited. These included former governors Jagannath Paharia, Kamala Beniwal and B L Joshi, former PCC chiefs B D Kalla, C P Joshi and Chandrabhan, former ministers like Jitendra Singh and Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, former Jaipur MP Mahesh Joshi and Rajya Sabha MP Ashq Ali Tak, among others. Majority of the party leaders considered close to the ex-CM were also present.
Gehlot introduced Singh to the state leaders lined up at his residence, while Pilot took the back seat. AICC treasurer Motilal Vora and general secretary Janardan Dwivedi were present. Singh stopped for nearly an hour at Gehlot’s house that was packed with the Congress leaders and party functionaries. Singh, who travelled under strict security, later left for Dausa by road.
Later in the day, the state Congress leaders held a meeting at the PCC headquarters and passed a five-point resolution condemning changes in UPA-II’s Land Acquisition Act by the Modi-government as well as Raje-government’s decisions about rise in power tariffs, unemployment, avoiding compensation for damaged crops and irregularities in mines allotment.
The meeting presided by Pilot was attended by Gehlot, Joshi, Dudi, Paharia and several other top leaders.
The resolution criticised the BJP government for “cheating” the youth by first promising 15 lakh jobs and now assuring only one lakh jobs in government sector. Moreover, the chief minister just talked of ‘creating opportunities’, the resolution highlighted.
It also demanded a roll back in the hike in power tariffs and pointed that the increase for BPL consumers was 23% per unit, farmers’ flat rate connections was 60% per unit and metered rate connections was 100%.
The third resolution was to demand adequate compensation for farmers whose crops were damaged by recent hailstorms and untimely rain.
The fourth was to demand high-level probe in the irregularity in allotment of mines to four companies days before adopting a mining policy. The fifth resolution was to demand from the Centre government to recall the amendment bill that proposes to change the earlier UPA-II’s Land Acquisition Act.