Moga (Punjab), Mar 7:
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of spreading hatred and anger in the country and putting the real issues on the back-burner. Addressing a public meeting in Punjab’s Moga district, Gandhi also launched a scathing attack on Modi over the Rafale deal and alleged that the prime minister was benefiting certain industrialists while refraining from helping out the country’s debt-ridden farmers. “Nothing was done with regard to the real issues. People of this country are being made to fight with each other,” Gandhi said at the rally after launching the fourth phase of the farm-loan relief scheme of the Congress-led Punjab government. “We are remembering Guru Nanak Dev ji (founder of Sikh faith) on this land here. Guru Nanak Dev ji had shown the path of love and brotherhood not only to Punjab, but also to the whole nation. But today, the situation in the country is of hatred and anger,” the Congress chief said. “The way the BJP people and prime minister ji are spreading hatred in the country against which Guru Nanak Dev ji had spent his entire life in a way, his (Guru Nanak) thoughts are being attacked. It is not only happening in Punjab, but also in the entire country,” he added.
Gandhi accused Modi of benefiting his “industrialist friend” Anil Ambani by getting him a contract, a charge repeatedly denied by the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“It was written in the files of defence ministry that because of Modi, the supply of the Rafale aircraft will get delayed. And in his speech, Modi says Rafale fighter jet did not come on time. It did not come on time because you (Modi) tried to help Anil Ambani out. It did not come on time, because you held parallel negotiations and you took away Rs 30,000 crore from the Air Force, which protect the country and dropped bomb in Pakistan,” Gandhi said.
Reiterating the slogan of ‘chowkidaar chor hai’ (watchman is a thief), Gandhi dared the prime minister to have a debate with him on the Rafale deal in front of the media, saying “everything will be clear” after it.
Gandhi praised the Amarinder Singh-led government for “reviving” the industry, creating employment opportunities and breaking the backbone of drug trade.
“But, in rest of country if you ask the youth what do you do? They will reply ‘nothing’. In the last five years, Modi ji has waived Rs 3.50-lakh crore of 15 industrialists and you know their names. But he (Modi) could not waive a single penny of the farmer of this country,” he said.
The Congress president hit out at the Centre for not refunding Rs 31,000 crore to Punjab and demanded that it should be returned.
“The PM does not want to return Rs 31,000 crore of money belonging to the farmers, youth, poor, women in Punjab. But the same PM gives Rs 30,000 crore in the pocket of Anil Ambani in just five minutes,” he said.
The Punjab government has been demanding the resolution of Rs 31,000 crore, which arose because of the mismatch between the cash credit availed for procuring wheat, paddy and foodgrain stocks in the account books of the state procurement agencies since 2004.
Promising a simplified goods and services tax (GST), guaranteed minimum income for the poor and employment for the youth if his party comes to power in 2019, Gandhi alleged that Modi had failed to carry out any “historic work” like the previous Congress regime had brought green revolution, white revolution and computerisation in the country.
The Congress leader said demonetisation led to massive job loss in the country. “He (Modi) says it (demonetisation) is a fight against black money, but you were made to stand in queues in front of banks. Have you seen Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya and Anil Ambani standing in queues? They all were sitting in a room behind the banks and converted their black money into white with the help of Modi.”
Gandhi also accused Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of not taking action against fugitive industrialists.
Gandhi also alleged poverty and unemployment grew under the Modi regime and asked the prime minister what he did for generating employment and farmers’ welfare.
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