Rahul: vote Congress for a ‘concrete’ roof for all

"If you give a toffee, the Gujarat government will give you one metre of land if you are Adani," the Congress leader said.

A file photo of Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to divide the country by dividing people, instigating clashes between Hindus and Muslims just as the British had done for three centuries, but the Congress, guided by Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy, believed in uniting people.

Appealing to the people to vote for Congress candidates in the constituencies of Nowgong, Mangaldoi, Gauhati, Dhubri, Barpeta and Kokrajhar in the final phase of election in Assam, Mr. Gandhi said the party would guarantee the right to concrete-roofed houses and the right to free healthcare if voted back to power.

Ridiculing the “Gujarat model” of development, Mr. Gandhi alleged that the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, had snatched away 45,000 acres of land from the poor and sold it to an industrialist at Re. 1 a metre. The same industrialist sold the land at Rs. 800 a metre to increase his company’s size from Rs. 3,000 crore to Rs. 40,000 crore without creating any livelihood opportunities, without setting up any factory.

He said the people of Gujarat had brought about changes through years of hard work long before Mr. Modi came to power in the State, but the BJP leader claimed credit for them. One man alone could not bring about changes; only collective efforts of people could.

He said that in the length of newly built roads, the United Progressive Alliance government had exceeded the National Democratic Alliance dispensation’s record three times over. Mr. Gandhi said the Congress would connect Assam and the northeast to the country’s industrial corridor so that goods with “Made in Assam” and “Made in Nagaon” marks would replace those with “Made in China” mark.

It would create huge job opportunities for youth.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the “Modi magic” would not work in the State. Dwelling on the issue Bangladeshi Hindus taking shelter in Assam, Mr. Gogoi said his party’s consistent stand had been that anyone persecuted, be it Hindu, Christian, Buddhist or Muslim, in his or her country seeking asylum in India should be treated as a refugee and provided shelter.