All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi virtually launched the Congress’ campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Bidar on Monday by unleashing an aggressive attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Opening his 35-minute speech by ridiculing Mr. Modi’s call to set up small-scale business establishments on their own and generate the required fuel from sewage, Mr. Gandhi went on to criticise the Union government’s alleged impractical solutions to the country’s problems.
‘Innovative ideas’
“Mr. Modi had promised to provide jobs to 2 crore youth every year, which he did not fulfil. When you remind him of his promises, he asks the youth to set up pakoda vending stalls and meet their energy requirements by generating fuel from the sewage in the roadside drains. These are the innovative ideas that the Prime Minister is offering for the country,” he said.
Ridiculing Mr. Modi’s much publicised claims of being the chowkidar (watchman) of the country’s wealth and Prime Minister of the people, Mr. Gandhi alleged that the former was a stakeholder in the blatant corruption and the Prime Minister for only the country’s 15 rich industrialists.
“Mr. Modi had promised to bring back black money stashed abroad and give ₹15 lakh to each of the citizens. Have you got even ₹10? We, in Karnataka, had promised to waive farm loans and we did it. We promised special status to Hyderabad-Karnataka and we kept our words by inserting Clause J to Article 371 of the Constitution. If Mr. Modi really has a 56-inch wide chest, let him waive farm loans. Mr. Modi had enough money to waive corporate loans to the tune of ₹2.5 lakh, but he doesn’t have money to waive farm loans. He is the Prime Minister of only India’s 15 rich industrialists and not that of the common people,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Making mockery of one of Mr. Modi’s popular slogans, Beti Bachao (save the girl child), Mr. Gandhi said that Mr. Modi should have clarified which girls were to be saved as his own party leaders were accused of raping girls in the country. “BJP leaders are accused of raping minor girls in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and not one word about it comes from Mr. Modi who often calls for saving the girl child. Mr. Modi talks on everything under the sun in his Mann ki Baat , but not on the country’s concerns,” he said.
AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, Congress Leader in Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre, party leaders Siddaramaiah, G. Parameshwara, D.K. Shivakumar, Priyank Kharge, Rajashekhar Patil Humnabad, M. Veerappa Moily, K.H. Muniyappa, M.B. Patil and others were present.
