Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday declared that his party will give 500 sq ft houses to slum-dwellers in Mumbai within 10 days if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, PTI reported. Currently, 269 sq ft houses are provided under slum redevelopment projects in the city.
Gandhi made the announcement while addressing his first campaign rally in Mumbai. The promise of free houses was also extended to tenants and cess building residents, The Hindu reported.
“I made a promise of farm loan waivers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which was fulfilled within 10 days of our party coming to power,” he said. “Today, I make a promise in Mumbai that if Congress comes to power in Maharashtra, each slum dweller will get a 500 sq ft house in slum redevelopment schemes.”
Gandhi described Mumbai as the soul of India and said the Maharashtra capital was already a smart city even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks of developing 100 smart cities. Mumbai is a “city of peace and brotherhood” that gives direction to the country, he added.
Gandhi also promised a minimum income guarantee for every person if the Congress is voted to power in the elections. “After we come to power in 2019, every poor person in the country will have minimum income guarantee,” he said. “Every month, every person will get money in their bank account. If [the BJP] can give ₹3.5 lakh crore to the rich, we can give it to every poor person.”
Gandhi accused Modi of waiving loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore of 15 businessmen. “Mumbai’s medium- and small-scale industry should tell us how much of a loan waiver they got,” he asked. “Did Dharavi’s small businessmen get a waiver?”
The Congress chief said he had challenged Modi to an open debate on corruption. “But the ‘chowkidar’ is not only chor [thief], but also darpok [coward],” he said.
Gandhi criticised the Modi government’s decision to impose demonetisation in 2016, asking whether the move had affected businessmen like Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. “They were flying in private planes and getting black money turned to white. This was done by the ‘chowkidar’,” he claimed. “And your money in the bank was used to waive their loans.”
Taking a dig at Modi’s monthly Mann ki Baat radio programme, Gandhi alleged it was full of lies. “If you want to hear falsehood and ‘Mann ki Baat’, go to ‘chowkidar’s’ meetings. If you want to hear the truth and ‘kaam ki baat’ [something that matters], come to us,” he claimed.
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