Rahul Gandhi slams Modi govt for not doing enough for farmers and poor

Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh) [India], Nov 23 (ANI): Tearing into the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi government accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of remaining silent over his government's failure to do anything substantial for  farmers and the poor in the past four-and-half years.

Speaking at the rally here, the Gandhi scion reiterated his point claiming that the Prime Minister did not respond to his question as to why the central government did not waive-off loans of poor farmers.

"In Madhya Pradesh, there is no scarcity of funds. The government could have easily provided relief to the farmers. I have personally questioned Modi ji on why he doesn't waive off farmers' loans when he waived off loans worth Rs 3,50,000 crore of corporate tycoons. He remained silent. Not only that, state chief minister's family members too ran away with a large sum of money. This country is not formed by a person or a political party, the country is formed by its people, its farmers and its small businessmen."

"If you want to listen to lies and fake promises, listen to Narendra Modi ji and Shivraj Ji's speech. But, if you want to know the truth, then you must listen to my speech,"he added.

He further trained guns at the central government saying,"Modi ji wants you to listen to his 'Mann ki baat'. We do not want to do that. We want to listen to your voice and take Madhya Pradesh on the path of progress."

The Congress president assured that his government will install food processing plants near each block of a village, if voted to power. "The farmers are selling vegetables, fruits, grains in the markets but are unable to get the right Minimum Support Price (MSP). If we come to power, my government will install food processing plants in every village. The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh will prioritise in generating employment for the youth".

The 48-year-old leader also touched upon the issue of unemployment saying, "Young minds from Madhya Pradesh want to be educated but there is no opportunity here. The youths studying in the state are forced to cheat in order to pass examination. If you are honest and do not possess any money, then you cannot pass the examination in this state."

Criticising the central government over Rafale fighter jet deal, Gandhi said: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the contract of Rafale from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and gave it to Anil Ambani" and added "CBI director was ousted as he was going to conduct a probe in to the Rafale deal."

"Modi ji talks about surgical strike but he should know that the helicopters used during the surgical strike were manufactured by HAL. Then why was Rafale deal taken away from HAL and given to Anil Ambani? Narendra Modi has made a profit of 30,000 crores to Anil Ambani alone. Every day, at every level, from top to bottom, your (public) money is stolen from the Prime minister," he said.

Elections to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly will be held on November 28 to elect 230 members. The result will be declared on December 11. (ANI)