NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not fulfilling his promise of constructing a super speciality hospital in Odisha.
Taking to Twitter, he accused the prime minister of playing "April Fools' day joke" on the people of the eastern state, as Modi made the promise during a public function on April 1, 2015, after assuming office.
Gandhi urged the people to support the Congress in raising funds for the hospital and shame the prime minister for not keeping his promise.
The party also launched an online public funding campaign and has set a target of Rs 20 lakh for upgrading the hospital.
On 1st April 2015, the PM played an April Fools' Day joke on the people of Orissa, as seen in this video.
The Congress party has begun a fund raise to shame the PM into keeping the promise he made. Please contribute generously, Gandhi said on the microblogging site along with sharing a link to the public funding.
The Congress chief also put out a video of the prime minister's speech made on April 1, 2015.
Seeking to corner the central dispensation under Modi over the issue, the Gandhi scion mentioned about Odisha resident Muktikanta Biswal, who reportedly walked 1,350 km to the national capital to remind the prime minister of his poll promise.
The Congress said on its website, "On April 1, 2015 (Yes, April Fool's day!), Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a super speciality hospital during his first visit to Odisha after he became the Prime Minister. These were still early days for Mr Modi in office and the people of Odisha believed him. But things did not move on the ground and not a single patient has received any treatment yet," it said.
The Congress urged the people to contribute generously towards upgrading the medical facility in Odisha. "We, the people can make up for this betrayal. We can show him that there is still hope and we as a country are ready to support each other, even if our PM doesn't," it added.