The Congress intends to fight the forthcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat with all its might to ensure the BJP’s defeat in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi spoke about the party’s intentions at the public meeting held at the tribal-dominated Dediapada village of Narmada district in South Gujarat on Monday.
The Congress began its campaign for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls from the tribal belt, as 27 of the 182 seats in the state Assembly are reserved for scheduled tribes.
The function, which marked the beginning of the campaign, saw Rahul continuously hit out at Narendra Modi and the BJP. Buoyed by the presence of a large crowd at the rally, he said Gujarat was currently being ruled by no more than 10-15 people and that in “Vibrant Gujarat”, nobody except those people (who are close to Narendra Modi) have got real benefits.
In a speech that lasted about 20 minutes, Rahul tried to reach out to the tribals, saying that if the Congress came to power, “jal, jungle and jameen” (water, forests and land) will be with the tribals and not those ruling the state.
“The RSS and BJP do not respect you (the tribals). They want you to go to big cities and become servants. The Congress will never allow this. We will protect your rights,” he said. Rahul said that while the prime minister had promised jobs to two crore youngsters every year, last year he was only able to create one lakh jobs and none has been created this year.