RAIPUR: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the BJP calling it a party that “thrives on lies to fulfil its greed for power”. Addressing 138 party cadre who came from four assembly segments of strife-torn Bastar, south Chhattisgarh, the Gandhi scion exhorted them to “win over the lies with truth”.
"I know you have the potential and can do it. BJP is selling lies to the people as its concern remains to capture power everywhere. Only truth can trounce it (propagated lies)", Rahul Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi strongly suggested Congressmen focus on the use of social media as he lashed out at the RSS and the BJP alleging that "they work on a divisive agenda".
Rahul Gandhi is on a two-day visit to Bastar and will on Saturday address tribals in a rally, hold an interactive session with the tribal students and “one-to-one” meetings with party leaders and cadre.
Bastar, with a predominantly tribal population having 12 seats is often cited as the key to power in Chhattisgarh with 90 assembly seats.
The opposition Congress believes Rahul Gandhi’s trip will pave the way for devising a broad strategy to be followed ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls.
The visit to Bastar with a predominantly tribal population is significant since the tribals happen to be our traditional vote-bank and the party will look forward to keep their support intact, claimed party chief spokesperson Ramesh Varlyani.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, ruling BJP’s state president Dharmlal Kaushik said, “What Rahul Gandhi stated is devoid of facts. Rather it seems he is giving training on speaking lies to Congress workers.”
Following a call by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) to observe a Shaheed Saptah (Martyrs’ Week) to their cadre across India from July 28 to August 3, Bastar police have made elaborate security arrangements for Rahul Gandhi’s two-day visit to areas affected by left-wing extremism.
The AICC vice-president later met tribals who are demanding the return of their land acquired by the government for the Tata Steel project after the company withdrew from its Bastar venture. Rahul Gandhi is visiting BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh after two years.