Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan and a prominent member of the Congress, claimed on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is buying MLAs to overthrow elected governments in states in the same way that goats are bought for Eid celebrations.
He claimed that the BJP had used financial strength to overthrow governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh and had unsuccessfully attempted to unseat him in Rajasthan, an apparent allusion to the unrest that occurred when Mr. Gehlot was preparing to run for president of the Congress.
In Gujarat, where Assembly elections are scheduled for the end of the year, he was speaking at a rally in the town of Khedbrahma. By November 8, the Congress will have issued their election manifesto for the Assembly.
‘The BJP’s acts are weakening democracy. They topple state governments and form their own government after buying MLAs. Using the money received through electoral bonds, they buy MLAs just like people buy goats from bakra mandis during Eid,’ Mr Gehlot said.
‘The BJP first toppled the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh and formed their own government. The same thing happened in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Each MLA was paid nearly ? 35 crore. Though they tried to do the same in Rajasthan recently, they could not succeed because all MLAs remained united,’ he claimed.
Additionally, he lashed out at the recent switch of Ashvin Kotval, a Khedbrahma Congress MLA, to the ruling BJP. Prior to Khedbrahma, Mr. Gehlot and other senior Congress figures spoke at a rally in the Banaskantha district of north Gujarat’s Virampur village.
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