Ahmedabad: Resuming the second day of his Navsarjan Yatra in predominantly tribal areas of South Gujarat, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on November 2 said the fight in Gujarat is between ‘Satya and Asatya’. Gandhi said the ‘Sachhai’ (truth) of Gujarat is very different from the one being presented by the Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gandhi resumed the Navsarjan Yatra in the evening after taking a short break to visit Rae Bareli to meet the victims of NTPC blast there. At least 30 people have been killed and over 100 injured in the incident.
“Truth of Gujarat is one thing and truth of BJP (presented by the party) is different. They have nothing to do with each other,” Gandhi said while addressing a huge gathering of tribals here. “Truth of Gujarat is farmers’ plight, expensive education, expensive healthcare. Gujarat’s truth is bullet fired on Patidars and sticks hurled at Dalits. Unemployment is Gujarat’s reality,” Gandhi said. He further added, “Truth of BJP is the benefit of 5-10 industrialists, it’s a gift of Rs 33,000 crore to Tata Nano.”
Gandhi said in Rs 33,000 crore, Congress implemented entire MNERGA Scheme in the country and in that much money, Modi got a factory for Tata Nano. “I have toured thousands of kilometers in Gujarat, but have not seen a single Nano car,” he said.
Striking a chord with the tribals, Gandhi said they had given their land to Gujarat BJP for 22 long years for development. But when the tribals sought for their rights, the government refused. “You gave your everything – land, water – to them to develop Gujarat and sought your rights. But they refused and said that nothing is yours, everything is of 5-10 industrialists,” Gandhi said.
Citing Mahabharata, Gandhi said, “Many years ago, a war took place between Satya and Asatya (Pandavas and Kauravas). Pandavas had only truth with them and Kauravas had huge army with them…Similarly, today the fight is between Truth and Falsehood. And I want to tell you that I also do not have anything, but truth. Modiji has state government, central government, police, Army, Madhya Pradesh government, Uttar Pradesh government. But falsehood never wins,” said Gandhi.
Lambasting Modi’s claim of giving two crore jobs to youths in a year, Gandhi said, “Modiji promised 2 crore jobs to youths. Our direct competition is with China. In China, 50,000 youths get employment every 24 hours. Whereas, in entire India, only 450 youths get jobs in 24 hours…This is the miracle of Make in India. This is the truth,” Gandhi said.
He also accused the Modi-led BJP government at the Centre of changing the pro-farmer land acquisition act brought in by the UPA government.
Directly attacking Modi, Gandhi said, “Modiji will give long lectures, but will not speak on ‘Shahjada’ (a reference to Amit Shah’s son Jay’s business dealings).” Gandhi also attacked the Modi government for decisions like demonetization and GST, alleging that these initiatives brought India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) down by two per cent.
Gandhi said that two sons of Gujarat – Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel – showed truth to a superpower like England. And similarly, Gujarat can also show truth to Gujarat BJP (in the upcoming elections).
Before this, Rahul Gandhi had also met a gathering of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Assistant) workers who are engaged in an agitation seeking higher wages at another village in Valsad. He spoke to female ASHA workers, listened to their grievances and promised to redress them if Congress comes to power in Gujarat. Leader of the agitation, Chandrika Solanki, who had thrown bangles at Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in Vadodara, also interacted with Gandhi.
Before Gandhi joined the yatra, many public meeting places witnessed a low turnout of tribals. Many expressed their disappointment at Gandhi’s absence. In Gandhi’s absence, the yatra was led by Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki and Gujarat in-charge for Congress Ashok Gehlot. At many places, the Congress leaders were seen explaining the public reasons behind Gandhi’s absence.
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