Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the BJP’s much touted “Gujarat model” is actually “Modi model” under which the common man is suffering in the State and may god save the country from it.
“BJP’s chief campaigner is selling Narendra Modi model in the name of Gujarat. What is happening in Gujarat under this model? Sikhs living there since past 50 years are being forced to leave the State,” Ms. Gandhi said while addressing an election rally in Malwa belt of Punjab.
“May god please save this country from this model,” she said.
She attacked the Akali Dal for joining hands with the BJP and not raising its voice for the Sikhs in Gujarat.
“Akalis rather than raising voice against them (the BJP) are colluding with them and they are partners in this atrocity against Sikhs in Gujarat,” Ms. Gandhi said.
“In Gujarat, every second five-year-old child is malnourished and those who get Rs. 11 per day are not considered below poverty line in Modi model,” she added.
Ms. Gandhi said that around 45, 000 acres of land in Gujarat had been given to one businessman at a cheap rate and under this model, several people in the villages are still not getting potable water.
Accusing the BJP of adopting an ideology in which the common man will be identified not by his capabilities and skills but by his religion, language and caste, she said, the saffron party’s ideology is of “hatred, narrow mindedness and consistent hunger to achieve power” at the Centre.
“Their (BJP) ideology wants to take the country on that path where nation’s entire power wrests with one person,” she said in an indirect reference to Narendra Modi.
“They will take the country to a situation where the poor, weak and farmers will beg for their rights,” she said.
However, in contrast, the ideology of Congress is development of farmers, poor, weak and every citizen of the country, she said adding that the Congress is for peace and communal harmony.
Noting that the UPA had disbursed crores of rupees for the development of Punjab, she said, “The SAD-BJP leadership in Punjab is only concerned about minting money.”
“The SAD-BJP leadership is involved in all wrong trades, including drug smuggling, imposing goonda tax, illegal mining,” she said adding that “even policeman is not safe in Punjab, what do you say about an ordinary person.”
“Youths of Punjab are getting destroyed by drugs but the government is not concerned about it,” she said.
Hitting out at Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, she said that “he only talks but never delivers”.
“He makes promises to attain power and after getting it he forgets the poor and weak,” she said.
She highlighted achievements of the UPA government saying that it took commendable steps for the welfare of Dalits.
She castigated the SAD-BJP for not being serious towards the welfare of Dalits. She said that UPA had promised generation of employment for youths, right to health, free medicines to poor, right to house to landless and poor, social security to old, widow and handicapped in its election manifesto.
