TIRUCHY: AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi was non committal when scribes asked him whether he would mediate in the Mullaiperiyar and Cauvery issues since the Congress was in power in Kerala and Karnataka.
Soon after his road show here on Thursday, representatives of various farmers associations met the Gandhi scion. Later, speaking to mediapersons, Rahul said that industrialisation was hit in the country because of land issues.
He claimed that the Modi government was trying to take away the land of farmers. However, the Congress managed to stop the BJP-led union government in its efforts, he said. “It is pretty clear that the Modi government did not understand and realise the power of our farmers. We have made the Modi government understand that,” he said.
In the same way, the Modi government did not understand the power of poor people and labourers, he claimed.
“We will make them understand that this country belongs to the poor and to the average persons and does not belong to two or three industrialists. We are going to make it very clear to Modi,” Rahul further said.
When asked whether he would mediate with Kerala and Karnataka with regard to Mullaiperiyar and Cauvery, as the Congress was in power in those States and as both governments had planned to construct dams which would affect farmers in Tamil Nadu, Rahul Gandhi remained non-committal. “The farmers here have given me their views and I have listened to them. I will take a look at what they are saying and will take care of it,” he said before leaving the venue.