Ashok Gehlot announces 19 new districts in Rajasthan; BJP terms it political stunt

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced the formation of 19 new districts in the state and also declared three new divisions namely Sikar, Pali and Banswara.

His announcement is seen as a masterstroke in a way as Gehlot has struck a regional as well as political balance in the formation of new districts.

By announcing such a large number of districts simultaneously, the Congress leader also attempted to diminish the impact of anti-incumbency. If fewer districts would have been announced, then resentment could have developed from other places before the elections.

In order to give relief to the areas where demand was rising due to the long distance from the division headquarters, efforts were made by the ruling party to balance the demand of the people by announcing Pali, Sikar and Banswara divisions.

Gehlot also ensured that the BJP's temple agenda would get snatched.

The BJP has been accusing the Congress government of "breaking" temples, banning processions on the day of Ram Navami.

To counteract such allegations, Gehlot has made several announcements for the development of major temples of the state and to speed up religious tourism in state.

Apart from developing Jaipur's Govind Devji temple on the lines of Ujjain's Mahakal temple, he also announced preparing DPR for the development of Khatushyam ji, Salasar, Tripurasundari, Karnaimata, Kailadevi, Mehandipur Balaji, Ramdevra temple, Khole ke Hanuman, Veer Tejaji temple and Sanwaliya temple. Further, he also announced spending Rs 100 crore on Beneshwar Dham.

The announcement to form Pushkar Development Authority for the development of Tirtharaj Pushkar also gives a reply to bJP's allegations. Gehlot has in a way tried to sideline the issue of BJP by focusing on the development of religious areas.

Gehlot also has a focus on social engineering before the elections. To help castes, he announced the formation of the Veer Tejaji Board which is an attempt has been made to help the Jat community.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said, "The new announcements of the Congress government are just an attempt to fulfill its personal political interests. In this effort, they have put the entire economic system of Rajasthan at stake. The consequences of which will have to be borne by the people of the state and the state in the years to come. Many important facts have been ignored in the process of creating new districts. Because of which, instead of the ease that would result from the formation of new districts, the public will have to face administrative complications."

"The Chief Minister has tried to politicise the budget without keeping in mind the worrying fiscal indicators of the state, which is unfortunate," she added.

"Rajasthan is a geographically big state, first of all, the formation of new districts was started by former Chief Minister Late. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat ji had made Hanumangarh and Pratapgarh districts, now the Congress government had to take this decision under the pressure of public opinion, but the people of the state will not be misled as they will remember issues like paper leak, false promise of farmer loan waiver, deteriorating law and order situation etc. Every section of the state is oppressed by various issues in the state," Raje said.

With inputs from agencies