Congress President Rahul Gandhi has once again accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of betraying people, mainly the farmers, with fake promises. He claimed that his party always keeps its words after winning polls.
At a Congress rally in west Odisha he said, "We do whatever we say. We have always converted our words into action. The Congress party does not make fake promises to people like PM Modi does."
Congress Chief further said that his party's track record in fulfilling promises made during elections can be seen in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where it came to power recently. Although farm loans were waived soon after Congress formed its governments in these three states, the MSP for paddy was increased to Rs. 2,500 / quintal in Chhattisgarh state.
He said, "We wanted to give a message to growers in these states that they are not alone and Congress party is with them. The similar message is also being sent out to Odisha farmers and they must back our party."
This was Rahul Gandhi's first visit to Odisha after the announcement of Lok Sabha election agenda. He had visited Bhubaneswar on 25th January, Rourkela and Bhawanipatna on 6th February & Koraput on 8th March to strengthen the poll prospects of the party that has been out of power in Odisha since 2000.
The Congress Chief also said, "PM is in the habit of telling lies and making false promises to cheat people. Farmers across India are the worst victims of the BJP's hollow & deceptive words," he added.
Emphasizing that the Congress is fighting a battle of ideology, he said his party is trying its best to unite the nation, while Prime Minister is adopting a "divisive policy."
He alleged that the Congress party is in the course of connecting all castes, creeds, provinces & languages, while Modi is trying to spread abhorrence and is adopting a divisive policy in the name of caste, creed & religion."
Asserting that India is witnessing farmer suicides almost every day, Mr. Gandhi said troubled peasants are forced to take the extreme step as the BJP government failed to fulfill its promise of improving their plight.
Attacking Modi, the Congress chief said the prime minister had promised that his cabinet would create at least 2 crore jobs yearly, bring back black money stashed overseas and deposit Rs. 15 lakh in everyone's bank account, but nothing like this happened.
He also accused the BJP government of trying to snatch away the land of farmers & tribals, and handing them over to the industrialists.
Declaring that no land can be taken from cultivators & tribals without their permission, Mr Gandhi said land obtained from them for setting up industries should be returned if no project comes up within 5 years of acquisition.
