Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi would be won by the INDIA bloc, which will form the government at the Centre at the end of the general election.
Addressing a rally at Dilshad Garden in honour of Congress’s North East Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, Mr. Gandhi said, “The Lok Sabha election results will surprise everyone. INDIA bloc will form the government, and all the seats in Delhi will be won by us.”
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The Congress MP referred to Mr. Kumar as the “babbar sher” (lion) of the party while taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had said in an interview on Wednesday that “God had sent him to do his work”.
“Kanhaiya Kumar, unlike the one who claims to have been sent by the parmatma (God), understands the local issues ailing this constituency while also possessing understanding of farmers’ problems and international politics,” he said.
While holding aloft a copy of the Constitution, Mr. Gandhi said that while the BJP intends to “rule the country like ancient kings”, the Congress is striving to protect democracy. “This election is a fight for safeguarding the Constitution of India. These people [BJP] have wanted to tear and throw it away. They never accepted either the Indian Constitution or the Indian flag. But in this election, they have finally accepted that they want to change it,” he said.
The Congress leader also attacked the PM for “channelling the country’s money towards his rich friends”, including billionaire businessmen Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.
“Unlike the BJP, the Congress will invest in the politics of 90%, which include empowering the socially and economically backward sections of society, providing monthly stipends and jobs to the unemployed, necessary vocational training to the youth, and protecting the Constitution, which is the source of the public’s voice,” he said.
‘Economic revamp’
Mr. Gandhi said the Indian economy at present needs a thorough economic revamp, adding that the party’s promise to provide a monthly stipend of ₹8,500 to the women and youth below poverty line was the “only way forward”.
“Jaise scooter mein petrol dalte hai aur chabi ghumate hai, waise youth aur mahilaon ke jeb mein INDIA sarkaar paise dalegi (The way one starts up a scooter by fuelling it, the same way, the INDIA bloc government will give wealth to women and youth to restart the economy),” said Mr. Gandhi.
Adding that the BJP “only serves the rich”, the Congress leader said that while there is pension and a secure life guaranteed to “upper-class soldiers”, a “thekedaari” (contractual) system in the form of the Agniveer scheme had been introduced for the backward sections of society.
“As soon as the INDIA bloc is in power, we will abolish the Agniveer scheme and eradicate the thekedaari system in totality,” he said.
He also referred to the recent controversy surrounding the 17-year-old boy who killed two people while drunk driving in Pune earlier this week. “While truck drivers and gig workers are imprisoned for accidents, sons of rich industrialists who have killed two people while illegally driving a luxury car are asked to only write 300-word essays,” he said.
Later in the day, while addressing a group of women voters alongside North West Delhi Congress candidate Udit Raj, Mr. Gandhi said the election was a battle between ideologies. “This is a fight between the RSS-linked BJP, which treats women as second-class citizens, and our party, which promises to make you financially independent and pay for the unpaid labour you perform in your households,” he said.
