*Farmers being blocked as they are enemy army says Rahul Gandhi
AMETHI: Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims of BJP and its allies getting 400 plus seats in the coming General Elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today said that they will be thrown out of power and will not get even 100 seats. “Ab ki baar, satta se bahar”, Kharge said in retort to Modi’s claim of “ab ki baar, 400 paar”.
Addressing a largely attended public rally on the thirty-seventh day of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here today, Kharge lashed out at the Prime Minister for being vindictively discriminatory towards Amethi and Raebareli, just because people here elected the Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
Speaking on the occasion, senior Congress leader and former president Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the BJP government for the way it was treating the farmers who were demanding legal guarantee for MSP. “The way they are being stopped by creating concrete walls looks like they are dealing with an enemy army”, he observed, while pointing out, the BJP government can waive off Rs 15 lakh crore loans of a few billionaires but cannot give legal guarantee on MSP to farmers. “While Modi guarantees lies, we guarantee legal status for MSP”, he remarked.
Kharge warned that Modi was turning into a dictator saying, if he was not stopped this time, there will not be any elections again and there will be no more democracy and no more constitution. He said, if there is no constitution, there will be no privileges people are enjoying right now.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Modi for claiming that he (Kharge) had said that the BJP will get 400 seats in the parliament, the Congress president said, he had actually said that while they (the BJP) were claiming to win 400 seats, they will not even win 100 seats. He alleged that as is a routine in the parliament that whenever he speaks, his mike is switched off and the ruling party members disrupt his speech, same thing happened that day also and the BJP was now distorting his speech. “What I believe is that the sooner you leave, the better it is for the country”, he added.
Kharge challenged the Prime Minister to name a single significant contribution he or his party had made towards the country. He pointed out, in the past it was Pandit Nehru who had set up huge infrastructure, heavy industries, big dams, AIIMS and engineering colleges for the development of the country. “What have you done?” he asked Modi.
He said the Congress led UPA government had brought the MGNREGA, the Right to Food and Right to Education. He asked Modi, what had he brought? He said, even Modi’s claims of providing free food to 80 crore people was possible only because of the Right to Food Act which the UPA government had brought.
Accusing Modi of being a liar, Kharge said, his only job was to abuse the Congress and the Gandhi family. Taking a jibe at the BJP, he suggested that they should open a school where they can teach people how to abuse Congress.
Speaking on the occasion, former party president and senior leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP was discriminating against the Backward Classes, the Dalits, the Adivasis and poor from among the general castes and was only working for a select two percent elite.
He pointed out how the BJP did not let the President Draupadi Murmu, who is an Adivasi, to go inside the Ram Temple when it was inaugurated. He said, there were no farmers, no Dalits, no Backward classes or Adivasis but only rich people like Adani, Ambani and Amitabh Bachan to be seen at the inauguration.
Gandhi warned people that their attention was being diverted sometimes by mentioning Pakistan and sometimes with China, while they were robbed and looted of their wealth. He alleged that the country’s wealth was being handed over to a few billionaire friends of the Prime Minister.
He pointed out, the unemployment and price rise was at its peak. He said, in UP the rate of unemployment was highest in the last 40 years. But, he remarked, the media will never show such things but will only keep on diverting their attention.
Gandhi pointed out how the farmers were being treated by the BJP government and were not allowed to come to Delhi. He said the farmers’ demand was simple: they wanted a guarantee on MSP, which the Modi government was not providing them. He pointed out, the Modi government can afford to waive off Rs 15 lakh crores of loans of some billionaires but will not provide legal guarantee on MSP to farmers.
He reiterated that the Congress party had included it in its manifesto that its government will provide legal guarantee on MSP and also hold caste census to carry the X-ray of the socio-economic situation in the country.
In a special message to people of Amethi, Gandhi said, he had a special and old bonding with people here deeply rooted in love and he will always be grateful to them.
Among those present included KC Vengopal, Jairam Ramesh, Avinash Pande, Ajay Rai, Aradhana Mona Mishra, Pramod Tiwari, Imran Pratapgarhi, KL Sharma and others.
