Bhilwara: Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday said the Congress has ‘stalled ERCP’ (Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project) to improve drinking water and irrigation facilities in eastern Rajasthan.
Speaking at the inauguration of a hospital project in Bhilwara, Shekhawat did not mention when the BJP government would complete the ERCP, even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid its foundation stone in December 2024.
Shekhawat slammed Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra and his colleagues and said they should take a dip in the Kumbh to purify themselves. ‘Making ERCP is not a matter of waving a towel. It is a technical project. The project got delayed by five years because of Dotasra, his party and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot. I had asked them many times over those five years to speed up and implement ERCP but they (delayed and obstructed it) for political reasons. After our government came to power, we got an agreement between states in just 15 days. Why could this not have been done five years ago? Dotasra and his entire cabinet are guilty of the delay and should seek purification at the Kumbh, ‘ Shekhawat said.
Also, Union Culture and Tourism Minister Mallikarjun Kharge was creating an ‘unnecessary controversy’ over Kumbh stampede which was not in the national interest, he said and added that government had already announced compensation to the kin of the dead.
Shekhawat also backed the ‘Sanatani’s’ move to enact the law against forced conversion in Rajasthan and said if conversions take place because of greed, temptation or coercion, then every ‘Sanatani’ should back it.
