Rahul Gandhi should unite party first: Vasundhara Raje slams 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], December 16 : Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday took pot shots at the Congress' ongoing Bharat Joddo Yatra, saying Rahul Gandhi should try to unite his party first.
Pointng to alleged faction feud within the Rajasthan Congress, Raje questioned Congress' claim that all was well with the party, saying if that was the case, why were party leaders whisked away to a hotel.
"Rahul Gandhi should try to unite his own party first. If everything is fine within the party, what the need to confine Congress leaders to hotel rooms?" she said.
She was referring to the public feud between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot in 2020, which saw the latter spring an open rebellion on the former with a band of loyalist MLAs.
However, Gehlot shipped his loyalist MLAs off to a hotel to pre-empt poaching attempts by the Pilot faction, evetually managing to thwart the bid to unseat him from power.
While Gehlot held on as CM, he hasn't been seeing eye-to-eye with his former deputy and even went on record to call him 'nakara' and 'nikamma' (useless).
In the latest run-in, Gehlot labelled Pilot as a 'traitor' during an interview to a television news channel, adding that he would never become Rajasthan CM.
In response, Pilot called his allegation 'baseless'.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Raje said, "This is a promise-breaking yatra. What happened to all the promises the Congress made during the elections? What about the promise of waiving off farmers' debt within 10 days of coming to power? Let alone people, even the complaints of ministers and MLAs are not being addressed."
The former CM said the party had failed to fulfill even a single promise made to voters and has burderened every person in the state with a debt of Rs 87,000.
"The government has not fulfilled even a single promise. It will complete its tenure in a year's time and has burdened every citizen with a debt of Rs 87,000, which is the highest till date. Congress leaders are fighting among themselves for the (CM's) chair while the plight of the people is being ignored," she said.
Vasundhara alleged that many schemes introduced by the previous BJP government were either stopped by the current Congress regime or their names were changed.
"The Congress government completely failed to handle the state's economy. All that it has done to hide its failures is to curse PM Modi," she added.
Targeting the government, she claimed that corruption was at its peak in Rajasthan and the state also tops the country in crime.
"Women are afraid to step out. Many incidents of religious conversion have come to light and our deities are being insulted. You won't find a government in Rajasthan even if you search for it," Raje added.
On who would be the BJP's CM face in the next Assembly elections, the former CM said, "A decision on the CM face would be arrived at in due course and it will be a decision acceptable to all. I am sure the BJP will win the next elections."