Gehlot meets Sonia, says CEC to meet soon to finalise Raj candidates (Ld)

New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday met Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and said the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) will meet around October 18 to finalise the candidates even as the process of deciding candidates has commenced.

The Chief Minister also highlighted that the beneficiaries of its schemes are in every home in the state and appealed to the people to back the Congress government in the upcoming elections.

Speaking to the media after meeting Sonia Gandhi at her residence here, Gehlot said, “The process has just commenced and around October 18, when the CEC meeting will start, only then we will be able to finalise things.” He was responding to a question on the announcement of its candidates.

On his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, the Chief Minister said, “Whenever I visit Delhi, I make sure to meet CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. She also has been the party chief for a very long time. Since the time I was made Chief Minister for the first time she has always supported me.”

"If we get the programme of Sonia Gandhi we will feel proud," he said when asked if she will campaign in the desert state.

He said that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and all the other senior leaders will be campaigning in the state as the government has worked well in the state and has launched several pro-people schemes.

“As far as the election is concerned, there are beneficiaries of our scheme in every home, from villages to towns. We have tried to provide some relief from inflation to the people of Rajasthan. The feedback that we are getting from villages is very good. Because of our good governance, we want to appeal to the people of Rajasthan to bring us back to power. With the change in government, several schemes are stopped," Gehlot said.

He also slammed the BJP over the questioning of his OSD Lokesh Sharma and said, “What is he accused of? You (BJP) were involved in toppling of the state government. The recording is of Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. However, when you failed in toppling the government then you are getting false cases filed, you are targeting us and we are fighting it. We will win as the truth wins in the end.”

The meeting between the two leaders came a day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party’s highest decision making body, met here. The CWC on Monday passed a resolution to conduct nationwide caste-based census after voted to power.

 Gehlot has already announced the conduct of caste-based census in Rajasthan.