Salepur: In his maiden visit to Odisha ahead of Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, top Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi directly attacked the BJD and BJP alleging both are together and looting the people of the State.
Kicking off Congress’ election campaigning in the State, Shri Gandhi alleged, “Government in Odisha is run by Pandian. While Modi runs govt for crorepatis from Delhi, Naveen Patnaik runs Government that works for select people in Odisha.”
He further alleged that though the BJD and BJP were fighting the electoral battle against each other, in reality, they were working together. “Call it a partnership or marriage, both BJD and BJP are together,” he said.
Taking a dig at Shri Patnaik, Congress leader said that though he was the Chief Minister, the BJD Government in the state was being run by his aide V K Pandian.
In an apparent reference to the PM, Shri Gandhi said, “Uncle-ji and Naveen-Babu have given Odisha PANN, meaning Pandian, Amit Shah, Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik. They have looted your wealth.”
“Rs 9 lakh crore was looted through the mining scam. Rs 20,000 crore was looted through land grabs. The plantation scam was of 15,000 crore. As soon as the Congress Government is formed here and in Delhi, we will start giving you back your money,” he added.
“Telangana mein BJP aur BRS ‘ki shaadi thi, unki roz wahan barat nikalti thi aur drama hota tha’. (In Telangana, BJP and BRS were married, their procession used to come out every day, and drama ensued. The Congress party showed in Telangana that BJP and BRS are one, and if anyone is doing the work of the opposition then it is the Congress party. We gave 5 guarantees which gave money directly to the poor people of Telangana in their bank accounts,” Shri Gandhi said.
“The leaders of BRS gave full benefit to the selected people. We went there and said that BRS gave the same amount of money to the rich people of Telangana which the Congress party will give to the poor people of Telangana. The result was BRS lost and Congress won the Assembly elections and formed the government,” he added, indicating that the party is going to adopt Telanagana strategy in Odisha.
“While Naveen-babu has given you Pandian, I will tell you what Congress will give you. If we come to power at the Centre, we will do five revolutionary works. We will make a list of all the poor families, and one woman from a family will be selected and we will transfer Rs 1 lakh annually to her bank account. It is Rs 8,500 per month,” he said.
“We will bring a scheme — ‘pehli naukri pakki’. All the unemployed youths with degrees and diplomas will get apprenticeships, we will give you the guarantee of your first job for a year. It will be in the public sector, private sector, government hospitals and offices,” he added.
Shri Gandhi further said that if Congress formed the government in Odisha, it would provide Rs 2,000 per month to women, Rs 3,000 per month to unemployed youths, 200 units of free electricity and LPG at Rs 500 per cylinder.
“While uncle-ji has worked for 22 billionaires, we are going to create crores of lakhpatis,” he said.
Rahul alleged that BJP refers to tribals as ‘banabasi’ or forest-dwellers instead of ‘adibasi’ or indigenous people.
“The tribals are not ‘banabasi’, they are the ‘adibasi’, meaning they have the first right to the land, forest and water. Modi has taken away tribal rights and given them to industries. Congress will give tribals their rights back,” Shri Gandhi said.
He said that if Congress returns to power, it will waive off farm loans.
“Whenever there is a need, Congress will waive off crop loans,” he said, adding that a legal framework for MSP for all crops will also be ensured.
“The salary of Anganwadi and ASHA workers will be doubled, while MGNREGA wage will be hiked to Rs 400 per day,” he said.
Odisha will vote in the Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls simultaneously in four phases, starting on May 13.
Rahul has made a one-day visit to the State. Soon after landing at Bhubaneswar airport, he visited the place of Madhu Babu near Satyabhamapur in Cuttack district. He paid floral tributes to the statue of Madhu Babu and interacted with girl students.
He talked to a girl, who said she is learning Karate and presented her style to the Gandhi Scion, who was left impressed.
