Red diary vs red tomatoes: Modi, Gehlot in war of words

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday exchanged jibes over the red diary that a sacked state minister claims records financial misdeeds of the CM and his colleagues.

Addressing a rally in Sikar, Modi called the diary a product of the loot ki dukan run by the Congress.

After the event, Gehlot accused the prime minister of real loot for selling the red (cooking gas) cylinder for Rs 1,150, complaining also about the price of red tomatoes .

Modi's Rajasthan visit his seventh this year in the Congress-run poll-bound state comes amid the red diary row, which recently led to pushing and shoving in the state assembly.

Congress MLA Rajendra Gudha had tried to table the diary in the assembly, a day after he was sacked as a minister for criticising his own government's record on law and order.

Before Thursday's Sikar event, where the PM launched several development projects, the chief minister went on Twitter to accuse the Prime Minister's Office of cancelling his address, a charge promptly challenged by the PMO.

At the rally, Modi invoked the Rajasthan row and said the diary will lead to the Congress defeat in the Assembly elections.

The red diary' is a fresh product of the 'loot ki dukan' of the Congress. It is said that the dark deeds of the Congress are recorded in the diary, which will defeat the party in the elections in the state, Modi said.

Shortly after the rally, Gehlot said at a 'Labharthi Samvad' an interaction at his home with a group of beneficiaries of state government schemes -- said no such red diary existed.

Targeting Modi, he said, "The real loot is done by you by selling the red cylinder for Rs 1,150, the red tomatoes are sold for Rs 150. People are left red-faced in anger because their income is hit due to the burden of inflation."

Gehlot said the PM should have talked about bringing relief to these people.

He asked why the prime minister could not get information about the diary when agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation are at his disposal.

The CM said a hype over a red diary was deliberately created and the ex-minister used as a tool .

He referred to the symbolic red diaries being waved in the House by the Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs as well.

"Fifty or 60 diaries were waved inside the assembly. Yesterday, I heard they were waved in Parliament as well. Why is Modi so scared?" he said.

Ex-minister Gudha had claimed that Gehlot had asked him to retrieve a red diary from the home of Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore during a raid there by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department in 2020.

The chief minister also targeted the Centre over violence in Manipur, comparing a sexual assault caught on tape to Delhi's Nirbhaya rape-and-murder case.

Gehlot watched the inauguration of projects which was followed by a rally by the PM at a venue nearby -- from his home as he had injured his feet in a mishap some days back.

He had wanted to address it through video conferencing, but the PMO suggested that he would be breaking protocol.

In response to Gehlot's tweet complaining that his address was dropped from the programme, the PMO said, 'Shri @ashokgehlot51 Ji, In accordance with protocol, you have been duly invited and your speech was also slotted. But your office said you will not be able to join. You are most welcome to join today's programme.'

'During PM Modi's previous visits as well you have always been invited and you have also graced those programmes with your presence. Your name is very much there on the plaque of the development works as well. Unless you have any physical discomfort owing to your recent injury, your presence will be deeply valued,' it added.

At the event, Modi said the chief minister could not attend because of problem with his feet. I pray for his good health.

Gehlot replied later that he was grateful for the concern shown by the PM but maintained that the PMO had suddenly cancelled his address.