Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not having fulfilled his electoral promises. At a public meeting in Bihar’s capital Patna, Gandhi reiterated his promise that the Congress would provide minimum income to every poor citizen in India if brought to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress is part of an alliance comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha in Bihar.
Gandhi claimed that the amount of money Modi had allegedly given to Anil Ambani would be enough to fund three National Rural Employment Guarantee Act schemes, The Indian Express reported. “Everyone knows that chowkidar [security guard] is chor [thief],” he said.
“The BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] said they took historic steps for farmers in the recent budget,” said Gandhi at the Jan Akanksha rally. “Giving Rs 17 per day to a farmer is historic for them. What about Anil Ambani who was given Rs 30,000 crore, Mehul Choksi who as given Rs 35,000 crore, Nirav Modi Rs 30,000 crore?”
In his Budget speech on February 1, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal assured income support for farmers with small landholdings. Gandhi had then claimed the Centre’s “incompetence and arrogance” for five years had destroyed the lives of the farmers, and that giving farmers Rs 17 a day was “an insult to everything they stand and work for”.
Gandhi on Sunday alleged that Modi had taken money from Bihar’s people and distributed it among the fugitive businessmen. “Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh... so, did anyone present in this rally get those Rs 15 lakh which was promised?” he asked.
Attacking the BJP’s promise of providing employment, Gandhi claimed that youth from Bihar were travelling across the country to find jobs. “Go to any village in Bihar and ask the youth, what does he do? He will tell you that he does nothing but look for job,” said Gandhi. “The youth has gone to Modi’s Gujarat, he was kicked out after they found out that he is from Bihar.”
Gandhi also described demonetisation as “the biggest scam” the country has witnessed.
The Jan Akanksha rally is the Congress party’s first public meeting in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan in nearly three decades.
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