In a bid to score strong political points over the Bharatiya Janata Partyled NDA Government, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi undertook a 2 km-long padyatra from Kathaura to the Mega Food Park in Jagdishpur industrial area on Monday.
Launching a frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Gandhi slammed the BJP for “vendetta politics”. He said by cancelling the licence of the Food Park, the BJP Government wanted to take “revenge on me” (“badla mujhse lena chahti hai”), but “in reality the decision had hurt the poor farmers”.
He accused the BJP of pursuing the same politics in the rest of the country. “Farmers in Punjab, Telangana, Maharashtra and other States are unhappy, this Government is not theirs”, Mr. Gandhi said.
Addressing the farmers and Congress workers braving the hot sun, Mr. Gandhi said if a feedback is taken from the poor, the farmers, the labourers and the middle class on the performance of the Modi Government, they would give zero out of ten. “But, if a feedback is taken from two or three corporate friends of ‘Modiji’ they would give him 10 out of 10. This Government is for Mr. Modi’s corporate friends”, Mr. Gandhi alleged.
The Congress vice-president said the cancellation of the Food Park had harmed the interests of the farmers of about 10 districts near Amethi. “It would have enabled the farmers to bring their produce directly to the food processing units in the Food Park”, the Amethi MP added.
Mr. Gandhi commenced a three day visit to his constituency on Monday. He was accorded a welcome at Haidergarh enroute to Amethi and was greeted by thousands of party workers and farmers at Inhauna where he attacked the Prime Minister for undertaking foreign tours, but not paying a visit to the distressed farmers affected by untimely rains and hailstorm.
