BJP seeking votes in name of Lord Ram, won't benefit: Gujarat Congress Chief

Valsad (Gujarat) [India], April 27 : Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil, on Saturday, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of seeking votes in the name of Lord Ram, claiming that they won't benefit from this as they are exposed before the public.
"In a democracy, votes are given on work, but in the name of work, BJP has done mischiefs. So they are seeking votes on the name of Lord Ram. But they are exposed to people, and they are not going to benefit from this," Gohil said while speaking to the media in Valsad.
Gohil spoke to the media after Congress leaders held a public rally in Valsad in support of Ananthbhai Patel, the party's candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The constituency will go to polls on May 7.
Further raising questions on the timing of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Shaktisinh Gohil said, "For Hindus, words made by Shankaracharya are last. Shankaracharya has said that a temple where 'Kalash' was not placed and construction work is not completed, Prana pratishtha can't be done. But as elections were approaching, they did it just for the sake of votes. And now their candidates are getting flak for it in Gujarat."
When asked about his expectations and the kind of response they are getting in the state, Gohil said, "Me, my party, and all my candidates are getting full support from the people of Gujarat, and that's why the BJP is frustrated, and their candidates are scared even of contesting elections."
"They said black money will return and everyone will get Rs 15 lakh. Nobody got it, but the BJP's account got all the black money. Farmers' income was not doubled but expenses doubled. We have a positive agenda; we talked of five 'Naya' and 25 guarantees," he added.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed a rally at Valsad and said that the BJP wants to weaken democracy in the country and has pressured every institution in the last 10 years to not comment against it.
"They (BJP) want to weaken democracy and the people of the nation. Institutions that protect your rights, be it media, have been weakened. The media used to ask us every day, but nothing of that sort is happening today," she said.
All 26 parliamentary seats in Gujarat will go to the polls in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 7. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed in Surat after the nomination papers of the Congress party's candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected, as his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they had not signed his nomination form.
The third phase will include constituencies from Kutch, Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Bardoli, Navsari, and Valsad.