lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 27, 2019 00:23 IST

Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, saying that all of the latter’s promises had been proven to be false and that he had robbed the people of their wealth.

“Kuchh nahin sab jhootha hai, Narendra Modi ne loota hai, (all promises are proven false, Narendra Modi has robbed),” Gandhi said, as he emphasised the benefits of Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) minimum guaranteed income scheme in north Bihar’s Samastipur.

Gandhi also mocked the prime minister for making military operations carried out after the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama a part of his poll plank and said he (Modi) spoke of the strikes because he had been left with nothing else to talk about.

“He delivers his speeches from the text on the teleprompter and ...keeps getting orders from above -- don’t talk about employment. Do not mention the ₹15 lakh you had promised to...every poor Indian. Do not, at any rate, mention the farmers... Keep harping on surgical strikes,” Gandhi said in Samastipur, where he shared the stage with RJD leader Tejaswhi Yadav for the first time after the general elections were announced. If voted to power, Gandhi said in Balasore, the Congress would ensure that no farmer was sent to jail for defaulting on loans and there would be a separate budget for farmers.

Meanwhile, BJP state spokersperson Nikhil Anand said Rahul Gandhi’s promise of depositing ₹6000 in account of poor beneficiaries through Nyay is just an eye-wash. “ Congress has never done justice with SC/ST, OBC and poor of the country. Congress has lost its base in Bihar and now piggyriding on RJD and Tejashwi, which shows the party’s lack of confidence...,” Anand said.

DM Diwakar, social scientist and former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences said, “There is now a competitiveness among all major parties to dole out money. I see this as an alarming trend because it would not solve the basic issues like unemployment and purchasing power of people . The BJP has started doing it by giving ₹6000 to farmers and now Congress is playing it out aggressively by promising ₹6000 through Nyay. It’s competitive politics.”