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Addressing his first rallies in Rajasthan in the election season, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday praised the welfare schemes of the Ashok Gehlot government with a promise of seven more, while warning that if the BJP is elected to power here, it will pull down the welfare net stitched by his party.
Rahul addressed three rallies in Churu, Hanumangarh, and Ganganagar districts. In all his addresses, he compared a Congress government for the poor, the farmer, the backward, and the youth with a Narendra Modi government “which works for arabpati (billionaires)”.
Rahul said that after the Congress formed governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh five years ago he asked the chief ministers “to put money into the pockets of the poor and the farmers”.
“In every Congress-ruled state a new model is taking shape,” he said, praising the welfare schemes of Gehlot, especially the Chiranjeevi health insurance up to Rs 25 lakh.
“During Covid, Modi ji asked you to switch on the lights of your mobile phone and bang utensils. People were dying across the country and there was a dearth of oxygen and medicines. But he comes and says brothers and sisters, Covid is here, bang the utensils. While in Rajasthan, we had the Bhilwara model and the food packets were being delivered at home and medicine was being provided. Why? Because we run a government for farmers and labourers,” he said.
Listing measures such as cylinder subsidy, electricity subsidy, and Annapurna food packets, Rahul said that inflation relief camps run by Gehlot provided relief to 1.5 crore people. “We transfer money into your pocket, while they put money into Adani’s pocket,” he said.
While praising the existing measures, the Congress leader listed the seven promises the Congress would fulfil if voted back to power, including a Rs 10,000 annual honorarium for the women heads of families, subsidised gas cylinders at Rs 500 for over one crore households, free English medium school education, purchase of animal dung from cattle owners at Rs 2 per kg, a promise to back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) with a law.
He said that if the BJP returns to power it will stop all of this and start helping billionaires.
After Gehlot, too, recently claimed that his government’s schemes would be stopped by the BJP, PM Modi, in one of his addresses in the state, said that the BJP would not stop the Rajasthan government’s schemes. “Narendra Modi says Modi ki guarantee. Did you get Rs 15 lakh in your bank account? Modi’s guarantee means Adani guarantee, a government of Adani, while Congress means a government of farmers, labourers and the youth,” Rahul said.
He added, “In the last ten years, have you seen Narendra Modi with a farmer, labourer, or a small farmer? You will only see him going to America on an airplane, and hugging the American president.”
Attacking industrialist Gautam Adani, Rahul said that his industry now spans roads, cement plants, airports — including the Jaipur airport — ports, etc. “Earlier Adani ji was number 600 on the list of richest people in the world but Narendra Modi helped his friend reach the second spot. Wherever you look, Adani is doing some business,” Rahul said, adding that the PM was privatising hospitals, schools and colleges.
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He said there were two types of governments — one that stands with farmers, the poor, and labourers, and the other that stands with billionaires. The Modi government, he claimed, has waived Rs 14.5 lakh crore of billionaires.
Going back to the Modi government’s decisions of demonetisation and GST implementation, he said its policies led to inflation and unemployment. Rahul said small and medium businessmen are the backbone when it comes to providing employment but Modi broke their back by implementing demonetisation. “Did anyone benefit from demonetisation? Was the black money finished?” he asked.
He also claimed there was a conspiracy to deny people from knowing accurate caste numbers. “No one can tell how many OBCs are there in the country, they are at least 50%,” he said, adding 90 IAS officers run the country of whom only three are OBCs. “You are being insulted, desh ko sharam aani chahiye (the nation should be ashamed),” he said, guaranteeing that when the Congress government comes to power in the Centre, it will undertake a caste census which will be “revolutionary and historic” like the white revolution and green revolution. The party has already announced a caste census in the poll-going states if voted to power.
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