AHMEDABAD: Kicking off his party’s campaign in Gujarat, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised free electricity to farmers, the creation of 10 lakh new jobs and LPG cylinder at Rs 500 if his party is voted to power in the state.
Addressing the Congress workers at the ‘Parivartan Sankalp Rally’ at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gandhi also promised a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre to milk producers. In his 29.11-minute speech, Rahul invoked the name of Sardar Patel at least 34 times, in a bid to woo the Patidar community.
Attacking the BJP, Gandhi said, “For whom did Sardar Patel fight for and why? Sardar Patel was not just a human being. You built the statue of his body, but he was not just a human, he was the voice of the farmers of Gujarat and India. Whatever he said was for the benefit of the farmers of Gujarat and India. On one hand, they built the tallest statue of Sardar Patel, and on the other hand, they attacked all those for whom Sardar Patel fought and sacrificed his entire life. What is the meaning of the statue?”
He said Congress is fighting an ideological battle. He alleged that the state has become a hub of drugs. He said that the government didn’t take any action even after a huge amount of drugs was recovered from the Mundra port.
“Gujarat is becoming the centre of drugs. The drugs worth millions were found at Mundra port but no action was taken by the ruling government. If the same drugs were found in a poor man’s house, the police would beat them and send them to jail, but if drugs worth thousands of crores are found at Mundra port, no action was taken because the government belongs to three industrialists only. This is the Gujarat model.” He also attacked the Gujarat government over its policy to seek permission for holding protests and said it was steeped in corruption.
“You have to take permission from those against whom you have to protest...Did Sardar Patel ask for the permission of the British for protest? Sardar Patel would have said that throw out the government which asks the people of Gujarat to seek its permission to protest,” he said.
Gandhi said that Congress will grant a loan waiver to farmers. “Wherever we come to power, our first job will be to do what Sardar Patel would have done. Here too, we will waive the loan of up to `3 lakh of farmers,” he said.