MUMBAI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday set the tone of his party’s narrative in Punjab for the Lok Sabha polls as he described the contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party as a “fight of ideologies”.
Addressing the ‘Mission 13’ rally at Killi Chahlan village of Moga, Rahul accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spreading hatred in the country and said Guru Nanak’s philosophy of love and mutual respect would eventually win. “It’s a fight of ideologies. On the one hand, there is Guru Nanak Devji’s ideology and on the other hand, it is the RSS ideology of spreading hatred,” he said.
“We will celebrate the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji in a befitting manner,” he added.
Bringing up his longstanding arguments over the Rafale fighter jet deal and farmers’ woes in the country, Rahul said Modi had failed on all counts. The Gandhi scion then challenged the PM to a 15-minute debate on these issues.
“If Modi can waive off loans of big industrial houses, why not farmer loans?” asked the Congress president, lambasting the PM claiming he had tweaked the conditions of the Rafale deal to favour industrialist Anil Ambani.
“Modi played a cruel joke on farmers by giving them Rs 3.50 a day, while giving industrialists crores as a gift,” said Rahul, adding that the Congress, on coming to power at the Centre, would ensure a minimum guarantee scheme for everyone. “We will give guaranteed minimum income and the money will be transferred directly to bank accounts,” he said.
Rahul lauded the Punjab government in the state for “breaking the back of the drug mafia.”