Lok Sabha poll a battle of ideologies: Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat’s Patan

The Congress leader, who was campaigning for party candidate and former MLA Chandanji Thakor, added that whatever Indians got after Independence, be it education, health, development, water and whatever the country’s poor have received, has been due to the Constitution.

“Today BJP leaders are openly saying that if we will win then we will change the Constitution, tear it off, end it. This Constitution protects the poor, weak and farmers. But Narendra Modiji wants 22-25 people to have control over India’s entire wealth and natural resources. You have been a witness to what happened in the last ten years in Gujarat and the entire country. Today the situation is that 22 such people have wealth equal to 70 crore persons. Adani, Ambani are those names and it started from Gujarat,” he said.

Assuring to waive farmers’ debt if the Congress forms the government, Rahul Gandhi further lashed out at PM Modi stating that he waived Rs 16 lakh crore debt of these 22 people.

“Only 22 people’s 16 lakh crore debt was waived off. This is equal to 24 years’ MNREGA money, 25 years’ farmers’ debt. Just 1 per cent of the people in India control 40 per cent of the wealth. Narendra Modi-ji and BJP leaders say that we will end reservation. Wherever the weak, farmers, small traders get a little benefit they try to end that. They say we will end reservation then they make statements that we are not against reservation. It is due to reservation that the poor, Dalits, tribals and the downtrodden have rights in India. To end reservation is privatisation,” Rahul added in his first campaign in Gujarat.

During his election rally, Gandhi also stated that the Central government is run by 90 bureaucrats. “Every rupee of the budget is distributed by them. How much is to be allocated in Gujarat, bullet train, Agniveer, scholarships, roads, how much money in infrastructure… All these decisions are taken by these 90 IAS officers. Among them, only three are from backward classes, three are Dalit and one is of tribal origin who are made to sit back and have small unimportant departments. Out of the budget of Rs 100, Rs 6.10 is spent on OBCs, tribals and Dalits. While your presence is 90 per cent, participation is only 6 per cent,” Rahul added.

Further, adding that two Indias are being created, he questioned, “Did you see a poor farmer, worker or even the President, who is a tribal, at the Parliament or Ram Mandir inauguration? She is the head of State, highest in protocol, but she was not allowed to go inside. Why? Because she is a tribal.”

Assuring a caste and economic census, Rahul said, “First we have to find out how much of the population is backward, Dalit, poor and poor from general caste, and then what is their share. Caste and economic survey will be the first thing that will be conducted in the country. The population will know their presence and how much money they are getting and which organisations have what kind of representation.”

Also assuring to waive off farmers’ debts, Rahul also declared that under the Congress’s Mahalakshmi Scheme, one female from poor families will be given Rs 1 lakh per year, be it farmer families, labourers, small traders or unemployed youth. Money will be deposited in women’s accounts because they work double. This money will be given till the family gets above the poverty line.

Among other schemes under the Congress’s manifesto, Rahul declared the apprenticeship scheme under which the graduates and diploma holders will get an apprenticeship with an annual stipend of Rs 1 lakh. “The Pehli Naukri Pakki scheme where every graduate and diploma holder will get this right to employment. This one-year apprenticeship can be in private sector, public sector government hospitals, offices and universities and colleges. Not only will crores of youths get Rs 1 lakh for one year but also top-of-the-line training and the country will get a trained workforce. This is a way to enter the job market, breaking the wall created by Modi-ji,” he said.

The Congress will also abolish the Agniveer scheme which, Rahul said, is “an insult” to soldiers and the Army did not ask for it but it came from the PM’s office. He also assured that there will be a simple GST without corruption.

In his concluding remarks at the rally, Rahul Gandhi referred to the Bhavnagar king without naming him and said, “We are grateful to him and respect him for what he did for the country as he gave his state to the country.” The statement comes a day after Jaiveerraj Singh Gohil, the prince of the erstwhile Bhavnagar royal family, criticised Rahul’s reference to kings and maharajas as “land grabbers” during a rally in Karnataka on Saturday.