Raje and Gehlot travel in same flight, but don’t talk to each other

Jaipur, May 22 (IANS) Call it political animosity or compulsion, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje travelled in the same flight on Wednesday, but did not talk to each other.

They landed at Jaipur airport from the same flight which they boarded from Delhi in the afternoon.

"Raje was in the business class while I was in the economy class. I did not know she was sitting in the front. Had I known it, I would have gone and spoken to her," said Gehlot while talking to media at Jaipur airport.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister spoke about his worries on electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying there were many complaints about them.

"In Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, strong security should be provided to safeguard EVMs. I believe courts too have accepted that EVMs can be tampered with. So, they have brought in VVPAT. If EVMs can be tampered with, then why should elections be conducted with them? EVMs are no more used in America and England. Why can't we, too, follow the trend?" Gehlot asked.

He alleged that polarisation has affected elections in the country. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sojourn at Badrinath-Kedarnath and the Election Commission's "silence" on it, the Chief Minister said: "Go to Kedarnath and Badrinath, sit and meditate... the poll panel watched the entire scene without any reaction. The entire election was fought on the basis of polarisation, though Rahul Gandhi tried to raise many significant issues."

Meanwhile, Raje speaking to the media said the BJP would make a clean sweep in Rajasthan by winning all 25 seats in the state.

The party will put up a spectacular performance across all states given the all-out efforts by PM Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, she said.

Both Raje and Gehlot came out from different gates of the airport.