MENDIPATHAR (MEGHALAYA): Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the BJP had attempted to offer money to the Church in Christian-majority Meghalaya through an unnamed Union minister ahead of Assembly polls later this month.
“With the RSS, one of the ministers had actually come to Meghalaya to offer crores of rupees to the Church”, Gandhi told a crowd at a rally organised to seek support from people for Congress candidates in North Garo Hills, at Mendipathar in Meghalaya.
“I know the BJP has a lot of money. Some of the richest people in India support them. I know with this money the BJP bought many MPs, including people from the Congress party. People from our party joined them because of financial investments. With their arrogance, the BJP actually believes they can buy God. However, the spirit of the people of Meghalaya can never be bought and it has no price to it,” Gandhi asserted.
Gandhi also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back diamond merchant Nirav Modi the next time he went on a foreign trip.
“You have a big question in your mind. This is about Nirav Modi, who has run away with `22,000 crore, money that belonged to Indians. I would request the Prime Minister to bring back Nirav Modi along with the people’s money when he goes on his next foreign trip,” Gandhi said.
“A few years ago, another Modi had arrived, who sold dreams of ‘acche din’, offer of `15 lakh to each Indian, and jobs to two crore youth, just as Nirav Modi sold diamonds as stuff that dreams are made of”, Gandhi said.
“The youth, the farmers, the tribals and, in fact, the people of the country believed what he promised. Four years have elapsed and now nobody believes they can fulfil what they had promised”, he added.
The Congress chief pilloried Modi on issues such as Aadhar and demonetisation.
He also slammed the PA Sangma-founded National People’s Party, calling it the “B team” of the BJP.