Rahul Gandhi in Ahmedabad on Monday. Javed Raja
Sounding the poll bugle in Gujarat, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed the much-touted Gujarat model of development was “hollow” and it benefited only a handful of industrialists, while others suffered. “Nobody can stop the Congress from coming to power,” he said, responding to queries at “Samvad’’ — a question-answer session with party workers and local leaders who had come from across the state to the Sabarmati Riverfront here. The Congress leader also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP was “uneasy and nervous” about the Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled later this year.
“Truth cannot be concealed. The Gujarat model has proved to be hollow. This model has benefited only a handful of industrialists and corporates, while youths, farmers, small traders, shopkeepers and entrepreneurs have suffered,” Rahul said. Attacking the Centre’s decision of demonetisation, he said it was “an assault on farmers and an attempt to suppress small businessmen and traders’’. He said the small entrepreneurs were the worst-hit by “notebandi’’ that resulted in decline of GDP growth by 2 per cent.
Rahul promised development of small and medium enterprises, hike in minimum support price for farmers, handing over of allotted land to Dalits, creation of jobs for youths, filling of government vacancies and a change in the education system if the Congress is voted to power. He claimed that development in Gujarat had not reached the Dalits, tribals and the poor.
Appealing to party workers to give a tough fight to the BJP at each polling booth with a view of bringing the Congress to power in the state after 22 years, he asked them to raise issues of unemployment, problems of farmers, tribals, Dalits and others, and expose the “falsehood’’ of the BJP and its “hollow promises’’ like giving Rs 15 lakh to each citizen by bringing back black money stashed abroad.
Attacking the PM, Rahul recalled that as CM of Gujarat, Modi gave incentive of Rs 60,000 crore for Tata’s Nano car plant at Sanand. But it did not benefit Gujarat as “you don’t see any Nano car on the roads here’’, he said. “Had the same amount been given to farmers and small businessmen, it would have created lakhs of jobs.’’
