Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “insulting” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by making a 182-metre statue of the independence icon in Gujarat using material made in China. Speaking at a public meeting in Satna in eastern Madhya Pradesh, Rahul also said Modi had cheated the people of the country by making false promises.
“Modi ji talks about making a statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat, but the statue is Made in China, just like our shoes and shirts. The Modi Government says it offers jobs to 450 youths of India only in 24 hours, while in China 50,000 get jobs,” Rahul said.
The Congress chief also targetted Modi over the Rafale deal and challenged the prime minister to speak on the issue. The fighter jet deal has run into a controversy after former French president Francois Hollande reportedly claimed that the Indian government had proposed the name of Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence for the deal.
“There is a big corruption in Rafale deal to benefit the prime minister’s friend,” Rahul said. He claimed that Anil Ambani had not manufactured even a single aircraft but was awarded a contract of Rs 30,000-crore after 'snatching' the work from state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). He also alleged that the industrialist has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore.
Calling the prime minister arrogant, Rahul said the Modi had blatantly defied the toil and hard work of people of India from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, when he said “he changed the country in last four years’’.
Rahul said he could never even think of lying and making false promises like depositing Rs 15 lakh in every account. He said the Congress party will waive off farmers' debts within 10 days if it comes to power.
Rahul also said that changes will be made to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to reduce rates on items, if his party comes to power. "As soon as we come to power, we will change the 'Gabbar Singh Tax' into the real tax. We will implement one tax at lowest rates," he said and added that all power would be used to generate employment.
The Congress president is on a two-day visit of Madhya Pradesh's Vindhya region, the home turf of the leader of opposition in the state assembly, Ajay Singh, who is also the son of deceased Congress leader Arjun Singh. This is Rahul's second visit to the state which is going to polls by the end of the year
Rahul started his poll campaign in the region from Chitrakoot after offering prayers in the temple of Lord Kamtanath. He was accompanied by state PCC chief Kamalnath and campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia. Rahul will undertake a road show of 60 km between Satna and Rewa. The road show will be done in a special bullet-proof bus which will carry all the leaders of the state Congress including former PCC president Arun Yadav, former chief minister Digvijay Singh and others.
During the two-day visit of the Congress president, several posters have come up across the districts of Satna and Rewa hailing Rahul as a disciple of Lord Shiva and Lord Ram.
(With inputs from agencies)
