Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government on Thursday, slamming policies which led to unemployment across the country.
Addressing a large gathering at Nanded after walking for nearly 27 km as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, the former Congress president launched a frontal attack on Mr. Modi and Central government policies, asserting that demonetization rendered millions jobless, while the youth had no hope of employment as the government had failed to create jobs. Farmers were also forced to pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) for fertilizers, which was previously unheard of in independent India, said Mr. Gandhi.
The Wayanad MP said that Maharashtra had lost big projects like Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus to another BJP-ruled State (Gujarat), leaving local youths jobless. “The big-ticket projects like Foxconn and Airbus disappeared in the same way as the Rs. 15 lakhs promised by Mr. Modi never got deposited in our bank accounts,” he said, to cheers from the crowds.
He alleged that Mr. Modi and the BJP, and their policies are spreading hatred and fear among youth, farmers, daily wagers and small-scale industrialists. “The youth are getting scared as they don’t get jobs after completing their education. Mr. Modi and the BJP are converting that feeling into fear for their own benefit,” Mr. Gandhi said.
“A youngster whom I met during the yatra today wants to become a software engineer, but he had not seen what a computer looks like. He told me that their school does not have computers. This is because Mr. Modi failed to build up school infrastructure, and all the money goes to only two or three corporates,” said Mr. Gandhi.
His Bharat Jodo Yatra draws sustenance from the love and affection of lakhs of people across the country, he said.
Newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that democracy and the Constitution of India are facing severe peril, and appealed to people to protect the Constitution from the clutches of forces inimical to democracy that were perpetrated by Mr. Modi and his “cronies”.
Earlier in the day, he tweeted that the BJP was conducting “vendetta politics” and using every opportunity to target opposition leaders as the recent observation by the Special PMLA Court in Mumbai indicates a flagrant violation of norms by the Enforcement Directorate in Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s case.
Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra
The Maharashtra leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra was meant to be a show of unity among the Maha Vikas Aghadi, with their partners, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray expected to join the foot march.
However, Mr. Pawar could not join as he was hospitalized and was reportedly advised two weeks of rest. The party was represented by his daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, State president Jayanth Patil and MLA Jitendra Awhad.
Mr. Uddhav’s son and Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray is scheduled to join the yatra on Friday. However, a section of Sena leaders in Uddhav faction are little apprehensive given Mr. Gandhi’s repeated attacks on Savarkar. On Thursday too, Mr. Gandhi drew parallels between Mahatma Gandhi and Savarkar.
Given the discomfort over a section of leaders in Uddhav camp, the Congress party made clear attempts to reach out by attacking the Modi government over Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s bail order.
‘ED a puppet’
Earlier in the day, both, Mr. Kharge and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh accused Enforcement Directorate of being a puppet in Modi government.
Mr. Kharge tweeted that the BJP was using every opportunity to target opposition leaders as the recent observation by the Special PMLA Court in Mumbai indicates a flagrant violation of norms by the Enforcement Directorate in Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s case.
“Spl PMLA Court lambasts the Enforcement Directorate for illegal arrest and holds the extreme use of its power to be illegal. Shri @rautsanjay61’s bail order exposes the vendetta politics of @BJP4India Govt.,” Mr. Kharge tweeted.
While Mr. Ramesh said that the 150-page bail order indicates that the ED is a ‘political weapon’ in the hands of Mr. Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Mr. Raut’s bail order shows that ED is not an independent institution, but a political weapon in the hands of Modi and Shah,” Mr. Ramesh claimed.
