Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who was in his political constituency Amethi for a two-day visit, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of favouring industrialists over farmers even though they have been facing an unprecedented crisis.
On the first day of his visit, he had said that appointing his sister Priyanka Gandhi as the party’s general secretary for UP East is a “big step to make space for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh.”
- Rahul Gandhi visited his parliamentary constituency Amethi for two days on 23-24 January
- The Congress President attacked Modi government over demonetisation, Rafale row, and said: “In India, Narendra Modi means hatred”
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
"Chowkidaar Gave MNREGA Fund to Nirav Modi: Rahul Gandhi in Amethi
Addressing party workers in his parliamentary constituency Amethi, the Congress chief said that while farmers were in distress with ever-mounting debts, Modi was busy helping his industrialist friends by waiving off their loans.
He also accused Modi of overlooking state-owned aerospace and defence company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which had been making planes for the past 70 years, and giving contracts to make jet fighter planes to help an industrialist friend.
He said the "chowkidar" has siphoned off the money meant for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and given it to Nirav Modi, the diamond merchant who ran off to foreign shores, he alleged.
On the second day of his two-day visit to Amethi, Gandhi also said that the name of Modi was synonymous with hatred, which was causing a huge loss to the country.
Priyanka Gandhi's Entry in Active Politics Big Step For Cong in UP: Rahul in Amethi
Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, 23 January, congratulated Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia for taking up charge of Eastern UP and Western UP respectively. He said their appointments are big steps taken by the party to make space for itself in the state.
He said, “We have no enmity with Mayawati ji and Akhilesh ji, in fact, I respect them a lot. We are ready to cooperate with them wherever possible. Ultimately the aim of all three of us is to defeat BJP, but yes our fight is to save Congress ideology.”
Rahul Interacts With Congress Members at Lucknow Airport
Rahul Gandhi interacted with Uttar Pradesh Congress state president Raj Babbar and other party members at the Lucknow airport before reaching Rae Bareli, his mother Sonia Gandhi’s home turf.
Rahul Gandhi's Visit to Amethi on 4 Jan Would Have Clashed With Smriti Irani's, But Got Postponed
Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to visit Amethi on 4 January but the visit was cancelled in view of the Winter Session of Parliament.
His visit would have clashed with Union Minister Smriti Irani's Amethi trip, which was also scheduled for the same day and was being seen as the first major political face-off ahead of the general elections.
The Congress chief will also tour states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the coming days.