As the protests by the widows of soldiers who lost their lives in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack reached its tenth day, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirori Lal Meena attacked the Gehlot government for not fulfilling the promise.
Meena also staged a protest outside Congress leader Sachin Pilot's residence on Wednesday.
Talking to the media, BJP MP Kirori Lal Meena said, "Two state ministers came here on Tuesday. They accepted the demand of the widows of the Pulwama attack and said that their family members will be given government jobs. But, a few hours later, the Chief Minister changed the stance."
"BJP is not doing any politics, we are only serving the people. The government has made huge promises, but it's been four years, and nothing has been done, because of which the widows are still sitting on protest," the BJP MP added.
Earlier on February 28 also, Kirori Lal Meena had attacked the Rajasthan government on the issue.
Talking to ANI, he had said, "Five soldiers were killed in action during the Pulwama attack, and for the last 5 yrs their brave wives have been making rounds to get compensation".
"They were promised jobs but they didn't receive any. Schools, colleges and roads have not been named in honour of those killed in action. We want to make them meet CM here but police officials say we can not sit here," he added.
On the other hand, Ashok Gehlot on late Tuesday night, attacked BJP accusing it of taking political mileage from the protest by the widows of the attack.
Writing in Hindi, Gehlot posted on Twitter, "It is the responsibility of all of us to give the highest respect to the martyrs and their families. Every citizen of Rajasthan does his duty to respect the martyrs, but some BJP leaders are disrespecting them by using the name of the widows of our valiant martyrs to earn political mileage. This has never been the tradition in Rajasthan. I condemn it."
Gehlot said that the widow of Hemraj Meena wants a third statue to be installed at a crossroads even as there are two other statues of the soldier installed at the premises of Government College, Sangod and in the park located in his native village Vinod Kalan.
"Such a demand is not appropriate keeping in view the demands of other martyr's families," Gehlot said.
Meanwhile, the women have been staging a 'Dharna' for several days in Jaipur and police allegedly misbehaved with them when they wanted to meet Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over their demands.
The have been protesting against the alleged non-fulfilment of promises made to them by the state government.
On Tuesday, a dharna was staged outside former deputy CM Sachin Pilot's residence. Pilot had on Monday written to Gehlot, demanding an inquiry into the alleged police misbehaviour with the widows.
"This behaviour against women and especially widows of those who have sacrificed their lives for our country is punishable and unapologetic. The government will have to take strict action against the police and people involved in this," Pilot told reporters after meeting the women on Tuesday.
Rajasthan ministers Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and state minister Shakuntala Rawat had also met the protesting widows outside Pilot's residence.
The women sitting in dharna say that they hope that Sachin Pilot can make them meet Gandhi's family. They said that the Gehlot government of the state is not paying attention to their demands, so they want to convey their message to the Gandhi family.
( With inputs from ANI )
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