Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi launched his party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in the State here by addressing a mammoth rally at the C.P. Ed. Ground on Saturday. He mocked Bharatiya Janata Party leaders for their tirade against corruption, when it was rampant in their own backyards.
Mr. Gandhi said BJP leaders were finding fault with only Congress-ruled States, but the fact was corruption was rampant when the BJP was in power in Karnataka.
Mr. Gandhi mentioned how the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was welcomed back into the BJP despite the charges of corruption against him.
He termed the previous BJP government as “Bellary sarkar” and said, “It was a free for all to loot Karnataka during the rule of the Bellary government.”
Mr. Gandhi said the BJP was responsible for stalling six bills that were against corruption. “We want to pass them, but the Opposition, especially the BJP, is not allowing the session to be conducted and we are not able to table them,” he said.
He referred to the steps taken by his father and former Prime Minister the late Rajiv Gandhi in initiating the IT revolution in the 1980s. “When he talked about computers, people ridiculed him. Now, we know how many have been employed in the IT industry,” he said.
Talking about the ‘IT Chamatkar’ (emergence of IT) in Karnataka, he said it was the S.M. Krishna government and the people of Karnataka, especially the youth, who were responsible for it.
He began his speech by wishing the gathering in Kannada and recalling the party’s association with Belgaum, where the Congress session was held in 1924, and mentioning freedom fighter Kittur Rani Chennamma. He then went on to describe Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other Ministers as “leaders of the future”. Power to people Mr. Gandhi also remembered the former Chief Minister the late D. Devaraj Urs, who, he said, fought for the poor and initiated the process of empowering them. He said, “Hindustan ki shakti” lies with the people and as long as they are empowered and helped, the country will prosper. And it is the Congress that keeps the people together, without making any differences.”
He said the Opposition did not care for the poor and the downtrodden, while the Congress always fought for them and had given them their rights. He also lauded the initiatives taken by Mr. Siddaramaiah for the poor and the downtrodden.
He said if the Congress was voted to power again, the party would continue to fight for the poor and give due rights to women by getting the women’s reservation Bill passed.
