NEW DELHI: Hitting out at both BJP and AAP at his first public meeting ahead of the assembly elections, former Congress president
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had formed governments by telling lies and would do anything to stay in office.
“Modi had promised two crore jobs and improvement of the economy. Kejriwal told lies about Congress and came to office. Those who win elections by telling lies can’t bring development,” Gandhi said at a public meeting in Sangam Vihar. “They only think about their own power and nothing else. They will say whatever you want to stay in office,” he added.
Rahul said the entire world wants to invest in India, but the Prime Minister doesn’t want that. “Modi says that he doesn’t need to provide employment. He says I want to divide Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christians. I want to destroy the unity this country has,” he alleged.
“When the world looks at India now, it sees hatred, violence, rapes, goondaism and killings. In the past five years, one Indian has started talking to another with hatred. This is not our history. This is a country of love,” Rahul said in his first public meeting at Sunlight Colony in support of Congress candidate from Jangpura, Tarwinder Singh Marwah.
Accusing the Centre of “selling” state enterprises like Indian Oil, Air India, Hindustan Petroleum and railways and Red Fort, Rahul claimed, “He (Modi) may even sell the Taj Mahal.”
“Be it BJP or AAP, they have only one target — to spread hatred in society. This is something that Congress can never do even if it tries. They talk about patriotism. Go to any person in this country, you will find patriotism in their blood, no matter which religion they belong to,” he said.
Alleging that both BJP and AAP were making one Indian fight with another to stay in office, Rahul asked, “Can a person who makes patriots fight among each other be a patriot himself ?”
“Congress doesn’t divide people or spread hatred. Modi and BJP might be benefitting, but the people are not. If you want progress, development, economic growth and employment, you have to remove violence and hatred from your heart,” he said.
Rahul said, “They talk about Hindu dharma, they talk about Islam, they talk of Sikhism. They have no knowledge of religions. In Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism, where is it written to attack people and suppress them? What kind of Hindu dharma is this of Modi and RSS? Hinduism talks about taking everyone along.”
Stating that demonetisation and GST, which he termed as “Gabbar Singh Tax”, had broken the backs of traders, Rahul said, “The finance minister is not ready to tell how many youngsters got employment. The Budget speech by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament was hollow. In my next speech, I will list how many projects Adani and Ambani have been given by Modi.”
At Sangam Vihar, Rahul was joined by his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Hitting out at the PM for his Shaheen Bagh jibe “sanyog nahi prayog”, Priyanka said that 3.5 crore people had lost their jobs and unemployment rate was highest in 35 years. “The Congress government had pulled 14 crore people out of poverty. In the past five years, they (BJP) have pushed people back to poverty,” she claimed.