In a bid to mount “pressure” on Rajasthan’s Bhajan Lal Sharma government, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the BJP government of sitting on a bunch of major public infrastructure and healthcare projects, alleging prolonged delays and oversight, with the ruling BJP dismissing the claims as misleading and blaming Gehlot for irregularities, cost escalations and unfinished announcements during his tenure.Through the series titled ‘Intezaar Shastra’, or the ‘Art of Waiting’, Gehlot has questioned the government over various projects. These include the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Institute’ built in Jaipur at a cost of Rs 233 crores “to provide world-class training to Rajasthan’s youth in good governance and social sciences.”Gehlot said that this has been ready since 2024 but the government hasn’t started it yet. Next, he raised the issue of the landmark IPD tower at SMS hospital in Jaipur, claiming that not a single floor has been constructed under the present government and that its cost has ballooned to Rs 764 crores from Rs 400 crore. Similarly, the IPD tower at the Women’s Hospital in Jaipur, which should have been completed by 2025, “is today hanging in limbo due to the current government’s lethargy,” Gehlot claimed.Another “stalled” healthcare project is the work on the four proposed satellite hospitals in Jaipur and that, “The SMS ‘Heart Disease Institute’, built at a cost of 50 crore, is fully completed and ready, but why hasn’t it started yet?”Other projects include a Road over Bridge in Jaipur’s Civil Lines, the “world’s third-largest cricket stadium in Jaipur which was supposed to be completed by 2024”, the ‘Pratap Nagar Coaching Hub’ “which is gathering dust”, and Jaipur’s Divyang University “being confined to two rooms.”He has asked why the government has “halted the work on the ‘guest house’ of that Rajasthan International Centre (RIC), where PM Modi and French President Macron participated in an event and appreciated it?”He has also alleged that the Constitution Club of Rajasthan and the Gandhi Vatika museum are being “neglected.” “Under our pressure, the BJP did unlock the museum, but today it is facing severe neglect. Is the BJP so fearful of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas of truth and non-violence that it wants to prevent them from reaching the youth?” he said, demanding that educational tours to Gandhi Vatika be made mandatory for schools and colleges and that proper promotion and publicity be done through advertisements and other means.”Story continues below this adOther projects include the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Fintech Digital Institute’, the Sumer Library and the Rs 500 crore Marwar Medical University, and a multi-level parking project on ‘New Road,’ all in Jodhpur.Gehlot’s series have drawn sharp reactions from the party leadership in the state from CM Sharma to BJP state in charge Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, as well as Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari, cabinet minister Jogaram Patel, and former minister and party veteran Rajendra Rathore, among others.Terming it “jhoot-shastra” or the ‘Art of Lies’, CM Sharma reminded Gehlot of paper leaks as well as corruption in Jal Jeevan Mission during his tenure, both of which have led to several arrests, CM said.RS MP Ghanshyam Tiwari said that Gehlot has taken to social media as he is being overlooked due to importance being given to Sachin Pilot in Delhi and party chief Govind Singh Dotasra in Rajasthan. Accusing Gehlot of lying on the issues, he said that “everything from the IPD Tower project to the tender process was rife with irregularities. The Gehlot government’s miscalculations can be gauged from the fact that during his tenure, the project’s cost increased from Rs 400 crore to Rs 700 crore. Parking for a 1,500-bed tower was limited to just 190. This was a sign of haste. He also spread lies about the Sanganeri Gate Women’s Hospital IPD Tower. Its civil work is nearly complete, and equipment procurement is underway.”Story continues below this adHe said that Gehlot made 4,148 announcements in his five years, of which 2,208 remained unfulfilled while not a single Rupee was spent on as many as 626 announcements. In contrast, the Sharma government has made 2,719 budget announcements, of which approvals have been issued for 90 percent, work has been completed on 34 percent, 56 percent are in progress, and just 10 percent are about to begin, Tiwari said.BJP state president Madan Rathore said that Gehlot is in a race with state chief Dotasra and Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and so the three-term CM should now instead opt for Santosh-shastra or the ‘Art of Contentment’.In response, Gehlot has said that BJP leaders have been giving “absurd statements instead of factual responses.” Defending his statements, he said that he has been running the series “to put pressure on the government” with the sole aim being to ensure that public infrastructure, on which crores have been spent, be utilised for the public good.