- Friday, March 07, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday (1) said Indian prime minister Narendra Modi commands respect globally because he leads the country of Mahatma Gandhi.
“When PM Modi goes abroad, he gets so much respect. He gets the respect because he is the prime minister of the country of (Mahatma) Gandhi, where the roots of democracy run deep and where, even after more than 70 years of independence, democracy is alive,” Gehlot said while sharing the stage with Modi at a public event at Mangarh Dham in Banswara in the north-western state.
The senior leader of the Indian National Congress urged the prime minister for a review of the railway project between Ratlam-Dungarpur and Banswara in the state, which was started by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi.
He apprised the prime minister that his government has done a lot for tribals, from opening colleges and universities to providing healthcare facilities.
“I will also urge the prime minister to examine the Chiranjeevi health scheme and I believe that you (PM Modi) would like to implement it across the country,” Gehlot said.
He said Banswara is not connected with a rail route and that is why the UPA government had proposed the Ratlam-Dungarpur via Banswara rail link under a central scheme with 50 per cent contribution from the state government.
Modi on Tuesday asked governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra to hold detailed discussions and prepare a roadmap to develop Mangarh Dham — a memorial on the Rajasthyan-Gujarat border in Banswara for around 1,500 tribals massacred by the British army in 1913.
[With PTI inputs]
