If BJP tries to turn country into ‘Hindu Rashtra’, India will meet same fate as Pakistan: Gehlot

Gehlot has been on a two-day visit to the BJP-ruled Gujarat from Wednesday to hold meetings with party leaders to review their preparedness for the upcoming Assembly polls, expected to be held in December this year.  

Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot issued a warning on Thursday, saying that if the BJP, which is now in power, attempts to transform the nation into a "Hindu Rashtra" and India will suffer the same destiny as Pakistan. Senior observer for the Congress in the Gujarat Assembly elections claimed that the BJP solely campaigned and won on religious grounds.

Gehlot has been in Gujarat since Wednesday to assess party's readiness for the next Assembly elections, which are anticipated to take place in December of this year. Gujarat is a state that the BJP now controls.

On the final day of his tour, Gehlot spoke with media and said, "The BJP has incarcerated many individuals across the country, including journalists and activists. They are fascists who are only succeeding in elections on the basis of religious issues. In addition, the BJP lacks any philosophy, policies, or governing framework. He forewarned that if the BJP attempts to transform India into a "Hindu Rashtra," it will suffer the same destiny as Pakistan."

He asserted that "religion-based politics is the simplest of all, and even Adolf Hitler engaged in it," accusing the BJP of leading people astray under the guise of the "Gujarat model."

The Gujarat Congress was led by Gehlot in 2017, and he said, "We came extremely near to winning the 2017 Assembly elections. We sadly lost because of the manner PM Modi ran his campaign, pitching himself and acting like a Bollywood star. He even twisted Congress leader Mani Shakar Aiyar's remark during the campaign, saying that Aiyar termed him a 'neech aadmi' (lowly person), in an effort to win sympathy."

The senior Congress leader asserted that because the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has more authority than the Central Bureau of Investigation, the BJP's "terrorising" of individuals has been taking place. The chief minister of Rajasthan claimed that because the "DNA of both India and Congress is the same," the country's citizens needed Congress to rescue it. The grand old party had won 77 seats in the 2017 Gujarat elections, whereas the BJP had won 99 seats in the 182-member House.

(With PTI inputs)