Bokakhat/Lakhimpur: Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that funds for the ambitious ‘NYAY’ scheme would come from the pockets of “chor” businessmen favoured by ‘chowkidar’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its benefit would be directly transferred to bank accounts of women members of poor families. Gandhi addressed two rallies in Assam on Wednesday in support of Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi and Congress candidate from Lakhimpur constituency Anil Buragohain.
Each of the 20 per cent poor families will get Rs 72,000 annually and Rs 3.6 lakh in five years, Gandhi said, adding that funds for the scheme will coming from the pockets of ‘chors’ (thieves) like Anil Ambani in whose accounts ‘chowkidar’ Narendra Modi has deposited money during the last four years. “Modi had promised four years ago that he would deposit money in the accounts of the people but he has done it only in the case of some rich people like the Ambanis. It is the rich who keep chowkidars, which Modi has become for them. We will deposit money in the accounts of the poor, particularly women, irrespective of their caste, class or religion,” the Congress president said.
He accused Modi of “stealing” Rs 30,000 crore from the Air Force and putting it into a “thief’s (Anil Ambani’s) pocket”. “It is poor people’s money which we will take out from them,” he said. The MGNREGA’s annual budget is Rs 35,000 crore and almost an amount of this size was given (by the NDA government) to a single person, Gandhi claimed. He said that Rs 3.6 lakh to be given to each beneficiary over a period of five years under the NYAY scheme will be deposited in the accounts five crore women, which will in turn will benefit 25 crore people and revive the economy.
Mounting an attack on the prime minister, Gandhi said he claims to be a ‘chowkidar’ and had promised to put Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts. “But is a chowkidar bigger than a mazdoor (worker) or a farmer. “Chowkidars are only in front of the houses of rich people like Anil Ambani, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya but not in front of poor people’s houses,” he mocked. He repeatedly referred to BJP President Amit Shah as “murder accused” and said it was he who had exposed Modi’s ‘jumla’ (false promise) of giving Rs 15 lakh to every Indian.
Referring to demonetisation, the Congress chief said, “Modi put people in queues before banks for their own money. But Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Ambanis were not in line. While you were busy standing in queues, India’s thieves looted the money and fled with the help of the chowkidar.” Gandhi said the Citizenship Amendment Bill will not be passed at any cost and the Congress will protect the language, culture and traditions of the people of the Northeast. “The BJP had brought the Bill in Parliament. It was an attack on the language, thought and independence of the people of the region. We did not allow the Bill to be passed then (in Rajya Sabha) and will ensure that it is not passed in future too,” he said.
The Congress president accused Modi of taking away the special status and special industrial policy which was given to the Northeast by the party’s government for the unique problems faced by the region. The Congress, he said, will restore the special status and special industrial policy for the Northeast along with constitution of a new Planning Commission if it came to power. “It will ensure that the region enjoys facilities and goes on to become a manufacturing hub as it was envisaged under the UPA’s Look East Policy,” Gandhi said.
He said the country is facing the worst unemployment scenario in the last five years and Congress will ensure facilities so that youths can start their own businesses. The party is also committed to ensure that tea garden workers receive minimum wages which Modi had promised them before the last Lok Sabha polls but failed to give them, he said. Assam has a large number of tea gardens.
Stating that youths now want to start small businesses and become entrepreneurs, he said that under the present system they have to seek permission from various government departments and even give bribes. “This is Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’. We (Congress) have said for the next three years no permission will be needed to start a business and after that public sector banks will give help.” Criticising the BJP for the imposition of GST, he said at a time when poverty level is the highest now in 35 years, Modi has imposed 28 per cent ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ causing losses for the poor.
“When our UPA government comes to power, the Gabbar Singh Tax will be changed to the real GST. There will be no corruption or need to pay bribes,” he said. Both Kaliabor and Lakhimpur will go the polls in the first phase on April 11.