In her maiden mass rally in Rajasthan on Monday, just a day before campaigning ends, AICC president Sonia Gandhi questioned BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s strategy for transforming India.
“Mr. Modi has been making claims that he will turn India into heaven... it is beyond understanding what magic wand he has,” said Ms. Gandhi, addressing a packed gathering at Paota, a town in the Jaipur (rural) constitu-ency, in support of Congress candidate C.P. Joshi.
“He does not know that running a State is different from running a country... it requires dedication and commitment,” she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The nation is at a crossroads... people have to choose between two ideologies... one is that of the Congress which is an inclusive ideology while the other is the politics of caste and religion for grabbing power,” said Ms. Gandhi.
“Some people accuse the Congress of not bringing about any development... perhaps they don’t know that the Congress has set new standards in development during the last 66 years,” she said.
She went on to dwell on the improvement in life expectancy, foodgrain production, power generation and road construction under the Congress governments.
ADVERTISEMENT
“At Independence, life expectancy was 32 years... now it’s 72 years... it’s the Congress that put mobile phones in the hands of 94 crore Indians... women’s literacy was 9 per cent at Independence... now it is 65 per cent,” said Ms. Gandhi. “It is unfortunate that the BJP only concentrates on criticising and spreading illusions,” she said.
Congress candidate from Jaipur Rural C.P. Joshi and RPCC chief Sachin Pilot were also present on the occasion.