Congress Fumes as Raje Govt Spends Rs 7 Crore to Ferry Beneficiaries to PM's Jaipur Rally

Jaipur: The Rajasthan government is spending over Rs 7 crore to ferry beneficiaries of welfare schemes to a rally which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address on Saturday, according to an official order.

The money for this will largely come from funds for the schemes. The administration expects a gathering of about 2.5 lakh beneficiaries of 12 schemes run by the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, where the party faces a crucial assembly election later this year.

The state government has arranged 5,579 buses to bring people to the Amrudon Ka Bagh stadium, officials said. According to an order of the General Administration Department (GAD), the government will spend Rs 722.53 lakh to bring people from 33 districts to the state capital.

GAD joint secretary Rajeev Jain has given directions to all district collectors that the cost would be met from the funding under the welfare schemes. The government would pay Rs 20 per kilometre for each bus, adding up to an expenditure of about Rs 7.2 crore, according to the order.

The largest number of buses are planned to arrive from Alwar, Udaipur and Ajmer districts. In Jaipur district alone, 532 buses are expected to ferry the beneficiaries to the venue.

Additional Director General of Police NRK Reddy said all security arrangements are in place for the prime minister's visit on Saturday afternoon. Security drills have been conducted to eliminate last-minute glitches.

“Two helipads have been constructed at the SMS stadium here,” he said. Sensitive areas in the city are covered by CCTV cameras, and temporary control rooms will alert the field units if they spot any suspicious activity. “We have called in 18 SPs from nearby districts.

They are mainly officials who have served in the city and are aware of its topography,” Reddy said.

Congress national general secretary Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of spending people's money “like water” in such meetings, saying there cannot be a bigger example of misuse of government funds.

“The BJP government in Rajasthan has crossed all limits on spending hard-earned money of the people for organising such meetings on celebrating anniversary of its rule,” Gehlot said in a statement.