Hitting back at BJP, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said if the need arises he would "earn money by performing magic tricks", but would "not let the people of Jodhpur down".
The 72-year-old Congress leader Gehlot was born into a family of professional magicians in Jodhpur.
Gehlot as per the report in NDTV said he had become the MP for the first time 42 years back.
"What was Jodhpur then? No water, no train. But today, it has water, electricity, trains, roads, education and health infrastructure. I left nothing to be desired in these years," he was quoted as having said.
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He said if somebody does a research on Jodhpur, they would learn about its development and see what Jodhpur was and what has it become now, it said.
He also wished for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to grant heritage status to the Blue City, it added.
On a brief visit to his hometown, Gehlot inaugurated 16 development works worth Rs 91 crores and laid the foundation of 44 projects worth Rs 1,000 crores in his run-up to the assembly election, the report said.
He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for holding up the schemes of the Congress government in the state, citing the examples of the Rao Jodha Marg and a refinery project, it said.
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"This road project had been announced during the previous Congress regime but BJP did not continue on it, which delayed the project. Similarly, the apathy of the BJP towards the refinery project not only delayed the project but also shot the project cost from Rs 39,000 crores to Rs 72,000 crores", said Gehlot.
He said this is a wrong practice and the projects of one government should be continued and completed by the incumbent government, he stated as per the report.
Taking a dig at Gehlot's magician remark, state BJP chief CP Joshi said the chief minister has only exhibited magic tricks during his tenure.
"You are a fraud, who is performing tricks by taking credits for the projects introduced by Centre," Joshi had said.
Joshi had said: “What else the emergence of cash and gold from the cupboard in government offices is, if it is not magic.”
