BJP,Left don’t understand disconnect between two Indias: Rahul

“Totally ignorant of the fact that almost 60 per cent of the country’s population fell in the category of have-nots,the BJP was obsessed with the urban population and taking cue from a TV advertisement coined the slogan ‘India shining’ in 2004 general election which boomeranged on them,” he said.

“They still continue to ignore the majority section of deprived living in underdeveloped villages,” Rahul said. About Left parties,the young Gandhi said they want India of opportunity to collapse and concentrate only on the have-nots.

The need of the hour is to strike a “balance” between the two Indias,he said adding this was the aim of his visits to rural areas and stay in the huts of downtrodden.

“My political opponents laugh at me when I visit a poor in his shanty house…but it is necessary to do so to know about them and their problems to bridge this wide gap between the two Indias,” the Amethi MP said. About various schemes launched by the UPA such as NREGA,farmer loan waiver and preparation of Universal Identity Card,he said these were aimed at bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots.

Rahul also charged the Right-wing and the Left-wing parties with living in the past and dwelling mainly on issues of the past.

“Some of the views of both BJP and the Left parties are almost 1000-year old,” the young Gandhi,flanked by Union minister Virbhadra Singh,leader of the opposition in HP assembly Vidya Stokes,PCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and AICC secretary and in-charge of NSUI and MP Minakshi Natrajan,said.

“BJP is obsessed with Pakistan’s founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The saffron leaders are debating about him in public. I do not wish to spare even a minute to discuss about Jinnah,” he said.

Instead of “whiling away” time on some past event,we instead should focus on issues which could brighten the future of the poor and the downtrodden,he said.

“People suffering from hunger and other problems want to know about what we plan for them to better their future,” he said adding this was his guiding principle in politics.

My father (late Rajiv Gandhi) had said only 15 paisa out of one rupee of developmental fund reaches the needy…we need to end this irregularity,he added. In reply to a question,he refuted the perception that regional parties have occupied political space of the Congress.

After addressing Congress leaders and workers at Rajiv Bhawan,the state Congress headquarters,Rahul left for an open discussion with youths at HP University.