BHOPAL: After assuming the mantle of Shiv and Ram Bhakt, Congress national president Rahul Gandhi became a Narmada Bhakt (devotee) during his tour to Jabalpur on Saturday. Posters welcoming Rahul as Narmada Bhakt dotted Jabalpur town of Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress chief arrived in Jabalpur, which is considered the nucleus of Mahakoshal region, and first went to the Gwari Ghat on the Narmada banks.
There, he performed a special ‘aarti’ in the afternoon — a departure from the usual practice of morning and evening ‘aarti’ of the river. Senior BJP leader Hitesh Bajpai BJP leaders dubbed the entire exercise as an election ‘aarti’.
“I haven’t seen ‘aarti’ of the river in afternoon,” he quipped. Meanwhile, Rahul along with senior leaders Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and others went on a road show, which travelled 8 km in over two hours due to a huge crowd of party activists and supporters in Jabalpur town. Rahul assured the people of creating jobs for youths, if the Congress was voted back to power in Madhya Pradesh. “We’ll ensure that there are factories where you get work and produce products of ‘Made in MP’ and ‘Made in Jabalpur brand’.” During four years in office, he said, PM Narendra Modi waived off loans worth `3 lakh crore of 15 top industrialists.
“Why didn’t he do the same for weaker sections, farmers and tribals? The Modi government has divided the country into two parts — one which has 15 industrialists, and, the other, a big part comprising poor and deprived sections with whom the Congress stands.” At a programme of Ekta Parishad, he claimed that he did not make hollow promises. “I’m in politics since 2004, and you can see and listen to all my speeches. You won’t find even a single speech, where I made hollow promise like depositing `15 lakh in every bank account,” he said.