In his first rally in Haryana ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on May 25, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “Adani partnership”, raked up the Agniveer issue and promised to announce a loan waiver for farmers when the INDIA bloc comes to power. “The balloon of his image has burst. Aaj ki date mein, main Modi ji ke mooh se kuch bhi bulva sakta hoon (Today, I can make Narendra Modi say whatever I want). You tell me…what should I make him speak? First, I told him that for 10 years, he did not take Adani-Ambani’s name…now you should take their names in your speech. Two days later, Narendra Modi ji said that Adani is giving money to Congress filled in a tempo. How do you know that they are sending money in a tempo? If you know, why didn’t you initiate a probe through CBI, IT, ED? He has completely lost his image,” Gandhi said, speaking at a rally in Haryana’s Dadri, which forms a part of the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat. In his nearly 20-minute speech, Gandhi also targeted PM Modi over the Agniveer scheme. “India’s borders are secured by the youth of Haryana and other states. You have patriotism in your heart, blood and DNA. Narendra Modi ji, for the first time, has transformed India’s soldier into a labourer. He [Modi] says that there will be two kinds of martyrs – one normal jawan or officer, his family will get pension, martyr’s status and all other facilities; second, a poor family’s son who is named Agniveer, this Agniveer will neither get martyr’s status, nor he will get any pension, nor any other facility,” Gandhi said. “The Army does not want this scheme… this scheme is imposed by the PMO. INDIA alliance government will come to power and the first thing we shall do is throw this Agniveer scheme in the dustbin. The martyr will be only of one category… the government of India will work for everybody, everybody guarding India’s borders will get the status of martyr. We are going to tear this Agniveer scheme into pieces and dump it in the dustbin,” Gandhi said. “Whenever I see BJP people standing on the roads and holding BJP placards, I take Adani’s name and they duck their heads. Because the entire country knows that the government is being run by the Modi-Adani partnership. Airports and ports have been given, Himachal’s apples have been given, land is being given, railways is also going to be given. The question now arises, what will the Congress party do?” Gandhi said. The Congress MP also repeated the “khatakhat, khatakhat, khatakhat” phrase – he had been mocked by PM Modi recently for the phrase – multiple times referring to the Congress’s guarantee that it would put Rs 8,500 per month into the bank accounts of women from below poverty line (BPL) families and also in the bank accounts of the unemployed youth. “Modi gave money to billionaires who spent that money in foreign countries. We are putting money in your pockets. You will spend this money in villages and cities of India. You will buy clothes, shirts, pants, shoes, motorbikes etc. When you will make such purchases, all the factories/industries that have been shut by Narendra Modi will once again become functional and consequently, it will generate more employment for you all,” Gandhi said. “Just like fuel is put into a vehicle to make it run, on July 5, we shall turn the key and switch on the ignition and India’s economy will take off and the beneficiaries will start getting Rs 8500 into their bank accounts and shall keep getting it every month of August, September, October, November and so on, khatakhat khatakhat, khatakhat,” he added. Promising a loan waiver for farmers, Gandhi said that after coming to power, the INDIA alliance would constitute a Loan Waiver Commission that would look into farmers’ demands for loan waivers and the Centre would waive the loans. “If Modi ji can waive off Rs 16 lakh crore worth loans of 22 billionaires, we shall also waive off the loans of our farmers,” he said. Accusing the media of being “friends with billionaires and Modi ji”, Gandhi reiterated his promises of a hike in wages for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act workers and Asha workers and government jobs. “We found that 30 lakh government jobs are lying vacant. It will be our priority to get those jobs to you. We shall also give a new right to university and college graduates. We had earlier given working rights under MNREGS, now we shall give a new right to graduates. No government in the world has ever done this. We shall give you the right of (your) first permanent job. In Haryana’s public sector and government offices, you will get these jobs. It will be for one year long, you will get training and you will get Rs 1 lakh for that one-year training. And every month, India’s unemployed youth will also get Rs 8,500 in their bank accounts,” Gandhi added.
