Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: Not first time Congress has taken money for tickets, says Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers' welfare and convener of state BJP election management committee, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on Tuesday accused the Congress party in Rajasthan of distributing tickets for money. "The Congress has had an old trend of selling tickets for elections. I have proof of this. Congress leaders took money from the party workers in the urban body elections and now the same leaders are demanding ticket for Assembly elections," he claimed on Tuesday.

Shekhawat's allegations come against the backdrop of a poster allegedly accusing Rajasthan Congress screening committee chairperson Kumari Selja of formalising names of candidates based on the amount raised by the said candidates. Found in the bathrooms of the Congress headquarters in Delhi, it soon went viral on social media.

"The character of Congress has been exposed. This is not a new episode, this has happened before. I have proof written on a Rs 10 stamp paper, in which there is submission that Congress leaders had taken money from party workers for giving tickets in urban body election," claimed Shekhawat, adding, "Congress leaders have paid money for tickets. Among them are those leaders who are now demanding a ticket for Assembly elections. The Congress netas are collecting money from the workers at the lowest level in the party to further their own careers."

He then went on to recite a parody song for Congress leaders,"Naam bade kaam khote, ticket ke lie paise lete mote" (Big names do small tasks, to give tickets, they take a lot of money). He even went on to take a dig at state Congress chief Sachin Pilot, saying they should be thanked for helping him rid himself of his party's secretary and joint secretaries.

Shekhawat has annouced that from November 5 to 8, the BJP will be organizing Karyakarta Parivar Sneh Milan Samaroh in the state. The event is planned to be held at all 1,032 mandal units of the party. The state's ruling party will also organise a prominent citizen's conference in all urban local bodies from November 8 to 11, he said.