Row as EC stops Rajasthan minister from laying foundation for ropeway project

Jaipur: The 'Bhoomi Pujan' and foundation laying programme of a ropeway project here by a state Cabinet Minister on Thursday triggered a row after the Election Commission stopped a state Cabinet Minister Mahesh Joshi from attending the programme citing the Model Code of Conduct.

The Election Commission officials also removed the foundation stone plaque with the name of the minister written on it.

Amid the row, five priests of major temples together laid the foundation of the ropeway, and all that time Mahesh Joshi stayed outside the gate.

Later, taking a dig at the opposition, Joshi said that "there are people in one party who do not do anything themselves".

"If someone else starts doing it, they try to stop him," he said.

A large number of people of Hawa Mahal assembly constituency gathered below the Garh Ganesh temple during the programme. As soon as the Election Commission got information, the officials of the poll panel arrived to stop the programme.

An Election Commission official Kirti Singh Nirvan said: "The manner in which the advertisement appeared in the newspaper is a violation of the code of conduct. No political foundation stone laying program can be held after the implementation of the code of conduct. This was a political program so efforts were made to stop it. If any event is private then there is no problem in that."

Later, speaking about the foundation laying programme Minister Mahesh Joshi said: I want to congratulate all the Ganesh devotees of Jaipur. People who could not climb to such a height for some reason since years will now be also able to get the facility of darshan."