Lashing out at the opposition BJP on the issue of cows, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said 74,016 cows had died in Hingonia gaushala in Jaipur during the previous government's five year rule.
He accused the BJP of calling the Congress a party of Muslims but stated the Congress had won elections in the 'cow belt' of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
"Politics was done in the name of cows. As many as 74,016 cows died in Hingonia gaushala in five years. Congress was called the party of Muslims but the party won elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," Gehlot said, in his reply to the debate on the governor's speech in the assembly.
He said the Hindu community had realised the BJP raises the issue of Ram temple ahead of elections.
The chief minister targeted the former Vasundhara Raje government "for weakening schemes like free medicines which were initiated by the earlier Congress government" and said his government will not discontinue any public welfare scheme.
He said the public gave huge mandate to the BJP in 2013 assembly elections but the Vasundhara Raje government wasted five years and gave misrule to the public.
"It was five years of misrule. Financial mismanagement was there. Corruption was institutionalised and the public was looted. The chief minister remained unavailable for the public for five years. Nearly Rs 50 crore was spent on hiring planes and helicopters in the five years," he alleged.
He appreciated leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria for mentioning the name of former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in his speech.
Prior to the chief minister address, Kataria spoke on the governor's speech and highlighted the achievements of the former government in sectors like road and infrastructure, education, rural development among others.
Kartaria said the state's rank in the country was 26 in the education sector which significantly improved to rank 2 after the previous government's rule.
PTI
