BHOPAL: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed his first rally of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
The Gwalior-Chambal region, which has four Lok Sabha seats, was the most closely contested among the six regions in the state in the 2023 assembly polls, where the Congress finished just two seats behind the ruling BJP.
Rahul addressed the rally in support of the party's Bhind-Datia SC seat candidate and sitting MLA Phul Singh Baraiya in Bhind district, which is among the districts of MP that sends the maximum jawans to the country's defence forces. Gandhi’s poll rally happened just two days before Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's roadshow in the adjoining Morena constituency on Thursday.
Hitting out at the Narendra Modi government over the Agnipath scheme, Rahul said, “I know that Bhind is that district of MP, which gives maximum jawans to India’s defence forces. But you’ll be surprised to know that except Narendra Modi, no one else (even the defence forces) are supportive of the Agnipath scheme. Through this scheme, the PM has divided our jawans into two categories, one who are normal defence force personnel (enjoying pension, canteen, adequate training and all other benefits) and the Agniveers who don’t enjoy such benefits. Now imagine Agniveers facing the Chinese forces on the border. China gives its jawans all facilities and takes care of the families of its jawans in case of any tragedy. But what about the Agniveers, they won’t get any benefits available to normal defence forces personnel,” Rahul said while promising to abolish the Agnipath scheme if the Congress-INDI alliance government came to power at the Centre.
Rahul also accused the Modi government of not inviting the country’s first tribal woman President Droupadi Murmu to the unveiling of the new Parliament building in Delhi and the Ram Temple inauguration at Ayodhya.
“She (President) was told neither to come to the Parliament building inauguration nor to the Ram Temple inauguration in Ayodhya. Both the inaugurations were done only by Narendra Modi. This exposes how much Narendra Modi and the BJP respect the adivasis (tribals). On the contrary, at the Ram Temple opening in Ayodhya, the 20-25 billionaire friends of the PM and his party, Bollywood actors and Indian cricket team players were present, but no poor, Dalit, backward or tribal found any place among those present there,” he said.
Describing the ongoing Lok Sabha polls as a battle between those who are fighting to save the constitution and democracy (Congress and INDI alliance) and those who are determined to tear the constitution (BJP), Rahul, while holding the Constitution’s mini book in his hands, said, “Constitution is the soul of India’s poor, no power in the world can change it. BJP is day dreaming of changing the Constitution.”
