Lambasting Narendra Modi’s ‘Gujarat model’ as one benefitting a single business group at the cost of farmers and small businessmen, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said in Amreli and Botad Saturday that this was actually a ‘Modi Model’ or ‘Adani Model’. Referring to the snooping scandal, he scoffed at the BJP’s claims of women empowerment. In Amreli, Rahul said Modi was embedded in the “poisonous” ideology of the RSS which Sardar Patel had warned was potent enough to destroy the country. Reiterating that Gujarat thrived on the “toffee model” under Modi, Gandhi said, “They gave away 45,000 acres of land to Adani for Re 1 per square metre. They also awarded Adani power contracts worth Rs 26,000 crore on Rs 10,000 crore worth of land of farmers and labourers. This is the Gujarat model,” Rahul said. Like Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he described the 2014 elections as a “fight between two ideologies” in Botad. Rahul said it was because Modi favoured Adani and a few other businessmen that senior BJP leaders like LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha had been sidelined. Targeting Modi, he said said, “Na mahilaon ki izzat hogi, na kisan ki, na mazdoor ki. Bas ek shabda ka prayog hoga — maine ye kiya maine woh kiya, main, main, main. (Women, farmers or labourers won’t be respected. Only one word will be in circulation — I did this, I did that, I, I, I.)
