Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. File | Photo credit: ANI
Veteran Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday (February 28, 2026) sought to revive the public welfare schemes started by his government that were discontinued or weakened by the current Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state. Mr Gehlot made the demand after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ajmer.
Mr Gehlot, who had written a letter to Mr Modi on the issue ahead of his visit, said people expected the Prime Minister to speak on such issues of public interest. He pointed out that Mr. Modi himself had promised during the 2023 State Assembly election campaign that if the BJP came to power, no plan of the Congress government would be closed.
“Don’t you want the whole country to get the right to health like Rajasthan? Are you not interested in revolutionary decisions like the Gig Workers Welfare Act and the Urban Employment Guarantee?” asked Mr. Gehlot in a post on X.
Strict law on paper leakage
Mr Gehlot said the BJP government had changed the name of the East Rajasthan Canal project but had not done any work on it. On the issue of leaked documents in recruitment exams, he said the Prime Minister should have praised the state’s stringent law, which includes provisions like life imprisonment, ₹10 crore fine and confiscation of property of the guilty.
“Instead of engaging in politics to mislead the youth, you should have talked about passing such a strict law at the Centre. The BJP government is not even able to show the courage to investigate the OMR sheet scam that took place during its current tenure,” Mr Gehlot said.
‘double zero’
The former chief minister said it would be better if Mr Modi stood by his assurance given during the Assembly elections that he would not cut the existing welfare schemes and directed CM Bhajan Lal Sharma to restart the closed schemes. “Your empty slogan of ‘double engine’ is now turning out to be ‘double zero’ in Rajasthan,” Mr Gehlot remarked.
In his letter to Mr Modi, Mr Gehlot expressed concern over the delay in payments under health insurance schemes, changes in the free electricity scheme and the end of Annapurna ration kits as well as the Indira Gandhi credit card scheme. Besides, several infrastructure projects in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota, including hospitals and institutes, have not been commissioned despite being completed, he alleged.
Published – 28 Feb 2026 23:02 IST
