Rahul Gandhi, AICC President, said on Tuesday that the economic policies of the Narendra Modi government favoured the rich and had overlooked the interests of farmers, poor people, traders and small businesses.
He was speaking at the ‘Corner Meeting’ organised by the Kaup Block Congress Committee as part of the Janashirvad Yatra of the Congress party here.
Mr. Gandhi said that the Narendra Modi government had no qualms in waiving the loans taken by rich persons. But whenever it was asked to waive the loans of farmers, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refused to do so. The demonetisation undertaken by the government had hit the farmers, poor people and traders hard, he said.
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Stating that Karnataka was the land of social reformers such as Narayana Guru and Basaveshwara, Mr. Gandhi said that the Congress party wanted an inclusive society. But the BJP, while paying lip service to these social reformers, later went about dividing society, he alleged.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC President G. Parameshwara, Mallikarjuna Kharge, D.K. Shivakumar, M. Veerappa Moily, K.C. Venugopal, and other Congress leaders were present.
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Earlier, Mr. Gandhi had breakfast at the house of Kishore Kumar, convener of Kaup unit of Congress Seva Dal and Vice-President of Tenka Yermal Gram Panchayat, at Tenka Yermal village near here. He also interacted with fishermen and fisherwomen on the occasion.
Mr. Gandhi also inaugurated the Rajiv Gandhi Political Institute at Tenka Yermal and addressed the State office-bearers of the Cognress Seva Dal.
Offers prayers
After finishing the ‘Corner Meeting’ at Padubidri, Mr. Gandhi visited the Sri Brahmashri Narayana Guru Mandira at Hejmady village and offered prayers. Mr. Siddaramaiah too offered his prayers there.