Rahul cites Bangalore to woo Uttar Pradesh voters

Bangalore and Bundelkhand may be far away in terms of distance and development, but Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday chose to cite the IT city’s example to promise voters in the backward region of Uttar Pradesh jobs, even as he blamed the SP and BSP of “squandering” the special package provided to Uttar Pradesh by the UPA government.

Addressing a rally in Hamirpur in Bundelkhand, about 200 kilometers from state capital Lucknow, Rahul steered clear of all controversies and focused instead on developmental issues as he asked voters to back his party.

“Your (people) voices reach us in Delhi but not the state government',” he said.
The Congress leader showcased the accomplishments of his party’s governments in Karnataka and Rajasthan and promised similar levels of development in UP if it is voted back to power in the state.

“See what our governments have done in Karnataka and Rajasthan... these states have developed at a fast pace...we will do the same thing if we come to power here,” he said.

The congress vice-president said that the government was working on a proposal to establish an industrial corridor between Mumbai and Delhi through Rajasthan. “In the years to come, Rajasthan will give jobs to the maximum number of youths,” he said.
Rahul also said it was his father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who brought in a revolution in the country by introducing computers.

He said the UPA regime had provided the state government a special package for the Bundelkhand region but the money simply vanished without proper use. Highlighting the UPA’s flagship programmes such as the MGNREGA, Right to Food and Information, he said the Centre was doing its best to render all possible help to the people in the state, but the successive governments have squandered the money.

The congress leader accused the state government of not being serious in implementing the Right to Food scheme. “The UP government says that it will implement the scheme after the Lok Sabha polls...does it want the people to remain hungry till then,” he asked.

Rahul claimed that victims of the recent Muzaffarnagar riots told him that the violence there was engineered by politicians.