The Hindu : National : Rahul Gandhi raises ‘aam aadmi’ pitch

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Rahul Gandhi raises ‘aam aadmi’ pitch

Staff Reporter

NANDED: The ‘aam aadmi’ (common person) became the peg once again as All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi addressed an election rally in Nanded on Tuesday.

Bhaskar Khatgaonkar of the Congress, brother-in-law of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, is the candidate from Nanded, which falls in the Marathwada region.

Nanded is Mr. Chavan’s domain and the rally saw political bigwigs like Mr. Chavan and the former Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil.

Cites party schemes

Recalling the various schemes of the Congress, namely the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Right to Information Act and the 71,000-crore loan waiver, Mr. Gandhi said that they were aimed at improving the conditions of the poor.

In an un-emphatic delivery, the young Congress leader spoke of the party’s agenda of bringing together people of all religions and communities, and the rich and the poor, in the country’s march towards progress. had no pro-poor programmes to speak of.

“Divisive politics”

In a simplified critique of the NDA, he accused them of implementing divisive policies. “Sometimes they say, people from Uttar Pradesh cannot come to Maharashtra, or sometimes they don’t let one community progress.”

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