Prime Minister Narendra Modi should stop wasting the time of the countrymen and should start giving employment to youth as promised, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday.
"BJP slammed our schemes in the first couple of months and then adopted the same ones later," Gandhi said, on his first visit to Amethi in six months. Gandhi, who is on a three-day visit, also slammed the BJP government for GST and brought in comparisons with the tax plan during the Congress regime.
File image of Rahul Gandhi. PTI
Rahul also said that if Modi cannot address main issues concerning farmers and youth, he should say so; Congress will come and do it in six months. Addressing a farmers' rally in his Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, he recalled how Modi had "ridiculed" the rural job scheme, MGNREGA, which was a Congress brainchild.
"But Modi realised later what MGNREGA meant for the common man and he began praising it. The Congress initiates programmes after consulting common people, taking their suggestions.
We have constructed six national highways in Amethi, Gandhi was heard saying. He also said that Congress consults people before taking policy decisions while BJP works on its own.
"But the BJP people don't do that. Modi doesn't consult anybody. For example the Swachhta scheme. He suddenly thinks that India should be cleaned and without asking anyone will order everyone to take a broom and clean India," he said.
The Congress leader said that GST was also a Congress initiative and the party-led government had come up with the tax reform after consulting people, including small traders and farmers.
"They told us that it was good to replace several taxes with one tax but there should not be any increase in taxes. We promised them that there will be a maximum tax of 18 percent under the GST. But the BJP government created many slabs with the maximum of 28 percent and then every state has its own GST."
He said the "wrong implementation" of the GST has caused several hardships to small traders and narrated how a shopkeeper, who also sells a mixture of dry fruits in small packets, told him he was in a quandary.
"The shopkeeper was confused. In the packet of the mixture, one item carried a different GST slab and the other carried a different one."
He said the BJP government had not understood the spirit behind the GST and implemented it "hastily and recklessly".
Unhone (PM) kaha NREGA bilkul bekar chiz hai. Kuch mahine baad baat samajh aayi aur wahi PM kehte hain ki iss yojna mein fayda hai: R Gandhi pic.twitter.com/vkgtCnn3t5
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2017
Rahul Gandhi attacks government on #GST, #notesban in Amethi pic.twitter.com/aduPTl4VGV — NDTV (@ndtv) October 4, 2017
#WATCH Rahul Gandhi speaks on National Highways built by Congress in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi pic.twitter.com/vfrZfVh7wJ
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2017
Commenting on the employment scene, Gandhi said in India, 30,000 youth start looking for jobs every year, out of whom only 400 to 450 get it.
He added, "the whole country knows that this man (Modi) had promised to give employment to 2 crore people but it is not in his capacity (to do so)....but the bad effect of it is that anger among the youth is rising, they want to work for the country but they are not getting an opportunity and farmers are committing suicide."
"Competition of the country is with China...I want to present statistics. While 400 get employment opportunites here, in China every day 50,000 youth get employment," he said, adding that if India has to compete with China "we have to start working on Made in India, Made in Amethi, Made in Uttar Pradesh."
Gandhi also lashed out at the government for failing to create jobs and said in India every day 30,000 people seek employment.
"And you know out of those 30,000 how many people get jobs. Only 400," he said.
According to Hindustan Times, Rahul will take part in a ‘chaupal’ of farmers at Kathaura village near Jagdishpur. He will stay overnight at the guest house in Munshiganj.
On Thursday, the Congress leader is scheduled to hold a 'janta darshan' at the guest house, where he will meet party workers at Rajiv Gandhi college in Tiloi and in Salon. The second day of the visit will end at the Bhuemau guest house in Raebareli.
On Friday, he will hold a 'janta darshan' in Raebareli and meet party workers.
With inputs from IANS
Published Date: Oct 05, 2017 07:17 am | Updated Date: Oct 05, 2017 07:17 am
