Ashok Gehlot exudes confidence about Congress winning Haryana Assembly polls

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday, 23 September, exuded confidence about the Congress winning the Haryana Assembly elections claiming that the party will have a one-sided victory.

While talking to reporters at the Jaipur airport, he condemned the comments made by some opponents about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said an atmosphere of violence is being created in the country.

Referring to the comment of Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, he said, "For the first time in my life I am hearing such a language. Leaders associated with the BJP are speaking but the BJP or RSS is not making any comment."

"The sad thing is that even if someone does something stupid, the leaders of their party -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, Amit Shah ji and (JP) Nadda ji -- said this is wrong and we do not agree with it," he said.

Gehlot said this is the first time in his life that he was seeing an attempt to create such an environment. An environment of violence is being created in the country, he added.

"This is not right in any way. Why are the people ruling today silent? They should answer the people of the country," he said.

Talking about the Haryana assembly elections, he said, "The Congress is winning the Haryana elections. There will be a one-sided victory there. The atmosphere is good."

On the question of the current BJP government in Rajasthan reviewing new districts formed by the previous Congress government, the Congress leader said, "The new districts were formed after a thorough examination. Small districts were created as an experiment.

"There is scope for creating more districts in Rajasthan. More districts should be created so that common people do not have to travel far for administrative work," he added.

On the ongoing controversy over the 'prasad' of Sri Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Gehlot said on X, "This is a matter related to the faith and belief of crores of devotees of India. The central government should form a committee under the chairmanship of a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and expose the truth of this matter."

"Along with this, standard procedures should be laid down to ensure that work at any religious place is done in accordance with the traditions there," Gehlot added.