PM Modi Diverts Attention From Key Issues, Says Rahul Gandhi
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Addresses 84th Congress Plenary
Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of collusion with crony capitalists and diverting attention from key issues as he set agenda to revive the fortunes of his party in next year’s general election.
Gandhi, addressing party workers and leaders on the last day of the 84th Congress Plenary in New Delhi today, said the PM goes silent and silences those who want to speak on important issues. “The PM diverts our attention and jumps from one event to another from Gabbar Singh tax to yoga in Parliament and never talks about the issues,” he said. “The Congress cannot be stopped from speaking the truth.”
Party workers gathered from across the country for the three-day conclave ahead of the key state elections that will set the stage for the battle for Lok Sabha in 2019. The Congress, hurt by corruption scandals and a slowing growth, was reduced to its lowest tally in 2014 as Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power with a majority on the promise of change. Gandhi said the PM hasn’t met it.
“There are no jobs. Ask the youth, the answer you will get is nothing. Farmers tell us that we don't get money from farming and lakhs of youth are unemployed,” he said. “The faith the youth had on the PM has been broken.”
Gandhi also raised the nearly Rs 13,000-crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank to target the PM. “Nirav Modi who carried out India’s biggest theft has the same name as our Prime Minister. The name Modi symbolises the collusion between India’s crony capitalists and the Prime Minister.”
Earlier, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh slammed the Narendra Modi government for failing to meet its promises on everything from growth to job creation. Senior party leaders like P Chidambaram and Anand Sharma also addressed the party cadres earlier.
Here are some highlights from Gandhi’s speech:
On Congress
The last govt we formed did not stand up to the expectations of the people. The people of the country were let down by us.Rahul Gandhi
- “People will accept a lying BJP leadership drunk with power. People will accept a man accused of murder as the president of the BJP. People will never accept the same in the Congress party.”
- To win back the confidence, “we need to change the organisation and some will not like it”.
- There is wall between the Congress workers and leaders. The first work is to break this wall and “I will do that with respect and love to our senior leaders”.
- “You are the Congress worker with Congress philosophy in your heart, you will get the ticket. We did this in Gujarat”.
- “We need strict discipline. There may be fights but hold on to it till after the elections”.
On BJP, RSS
Like the Kauravas, the BJP and RSS are designed to fight for power. Like the Pandavas, the Congress is designed to fight for truth.Rahul Gandhi
“They tell Muslims of India who never went to Pakistan and supported this great nation that you don't belong here,” Gandhi said. “They tell the Tamils change your beautiful language, they tell people of north-east we don't like what you eat, tell women dress properly.”
- The Vyapam Scam is being spread across the nation—question papers are being sold.
- The BJP has spread fear across the nation. The press is afraid of them. This is happening for the first time in 70 years.
- The people go to court for justice. For the first time, we saw the Supreme Court judges coming to the public.
- This is the work of RSS. They want all institutions to be under the RSS whether it is the police or the judiciary.
- “I want to assure the press that we will protect the freedom of the press even if it means you write against us. The hand of Congress will protect you.”
- The BJP is the voice of the organisation and the Congress is the voice of the nation.
On PNB Fraud
- “You can steal Rs 33,000 crore from the banks” and the BJP government will protect you.
- Finance Minister will go silent because “he and his daughter work for crony capitalists”.
On Jobs
- Where will the jobs come from? Every district has something to offer.
- There is no dearth of skills, intelligence. What is in deficit is the bank credit.
- The Congress will ensure there are food parks in every district. Farmers can sell their produce directly to the food processing industry.
- The Congress will help farmers and, if required, waive loans like the party pardoned Rs 70,000 crore in 2009.