Modi govt working for industrialists: Rahul

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is in poll-bound Gujarat for a two-day visit  starting Friday, again hit out at the BJP government saying that it was working for a handful industrialists in the state.

He went on to express confidence that the Congress  will form a government in the state after the Assembly elections.

Speaking to a fishermen rally in Porbander, Rahul said that when the Congress comes to power in the state, everyone would be able to meet the chief minister.

"Modiji tells you his 'mann ki baat', but nobody listens to your  'mann ki baat'. The Congress will win the December elections in Gujarat and will form a government which listens to you and works according to your needs," he said.

He also told the fishermen that if the Congress comes back to power at the Centre, it would consider setting up an independent fisheries ministry, adding that BJP government would not consider giving a subsidy of Rs 300 crore to fishermen but waived off the debt of Rs 1 lakh crore  of big business houses.

He said the industrialists are marketing for the Modi government.

Addressing Bharat Modi, a leader of the fisherman community and till recently a senior BJP leader in the region, "This is interesting. A BJP worker here speaks out about your demands from the Congress platform. My dear friend, it is your government.  Prime minister  is yours. Chief minister is yours. Now that you have come here and the Congress is going to win in Gujarat, we will listen to you."

He also hit out at the Modi government on GST and demonetisation and its impact on  the people  at the rally.

Rahul, who landed in Porbandar in the morning, also visited the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.

Flimsy issue

The BJP, on the other hand, tried to corner the Congress vice president on  the flimsy issue of a statue almost slipping out of his hand.

A Congressman presented a statue of the Mahatma to Rahul at a fishermen's rally. It almost fell off Rahul's hands and BJP tried to make an issue out of this.

What made it worse was that the BJP thought it was a statue of Sardar Patel. They said just as the Congress was  inept  at handling Sardar in the past, Rahul could not handle Sardar's statue now.  

"You (Rahul) could not hold an idol of Sardar or the Mahatma. It almost slipped out of your hand. It reminded me of the treatment Congress meted out to Sardar Patel," Union Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman  said when informed that it was an idol of Mahatma.