TIRUPATI: Taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for posing and smiling for a documentary on himself even three and a half hours after the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel died, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Modi should be ashamed of his behavior.
Addressing a well attended public meeting in Tirupati on Friday evening, Rahul said Modi should also be ashamed of himself for not giving the people of Andhra Pradesh what they deserve and what is their right - the Special Category Status.
Stating that the most important thing in leadership and politics is a person’s word, he said if one does not have commitment to what they said, then it is worthless. Describing Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh as a commitment of a Prime Minister on behalf of over a billion people in the country and not just anyone, he stressed it should be fulfilled.
“I want to make it clear to everyone in Andhra Pradesh and the country that when Congress party comes to power in Delhi, no force in the world can stop it from giving SCS to Andhra Pradesh. It does not matter to me, whether, there is a Congress government in the state or not, but the Prime Minister’s commitment to the State will be fulfilled no matter what,” he vowed.
Portraying Narendra Modi as a liar and an unreliable person, the Congress chief said five years ago, during a meeting in Tirupati, Modi promised SCS for not five years but 10 years. He promised Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of everyone, 2 lakh jobs, right price for farm produce, make in India, clean India, startup India, look left India and every single programme he could think of, Rahul recalled.
“Every single one of his statements is a lie. He asked you to make him Chowkidar and not Prime Minister. But today, that very chowkidar has become a chor (thief),” he alleged. Mocking the BJP’s previous election slogan ‘Achhe Din Ayenge’, Rahul Gandhi said good days were for corporates and cited the Rafale scam, which he said, benefited Anil Ambani by Rs 30,000 crore.
Describing Congress as a party which is committed to what it promises unlike the present Prime Minister, he reminded the gathering, “We said you will be given NREGA, we gave it. We said to you, we will protect the land, Land Acquisition Act was enacted, which is a revolutionary law that protects the interests of the farmer.”
On the farm loan waiver issue, Rahul Gandhi said, when they were in government they waived Rs 70,000 crore in loan waiver and recalled the BJP MPs’ criticism against the same. “Now, Mr. Modi can forgive Rs 3.5 lakh crore to corporates in the country, but could not forgive loans of a poor farmer,” he said, while reminding that though Congress promised to waive farm loans after coming to power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh in 10 days after coming to power, it did so in just two days.
Scaling up his criticism of Narendra Modi for his ‘insensitiveness’ after the Pulwama terror attack, Rahul Gandhi said the people who call themselves nationalists, failed to respond when 40 CRPF jawans were martyred. “The Prime Minister of India, who calls himself a nationalist, was sitting in a national park getting a movie made on himself. He posed in front of the camera, smiling, laughing. He didn't feel the pain and suffering of the families of our youngsters, who sacrificed themselves,” he said, and questioned why the Prime Minister did not pause to consider stopping the shoot and extend a helping hand to the families of the martyred.
The Congress chief concluded his speech with an assurance to accord Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. Earlier in the day, after arriving at Tirupati in a special flight, he trekked to Tirumala from Alipiri and offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala.