Kichcha (U’khand): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of leaving protesting farmers on roads for a year amid the pandemic and alleged India now has a king who believes people should keep quiet when he makes a decision.
Addressing farmers at a rally here, Gandhi said the Congress intends to provide a government that works in partnership with farmers, the youths and the poor.
“If a prime minister does not work for all he cannot be a prime minister. By that measure, Narendra Modi is not a prime minister,” he told the ‘Uttarakhandi Kisan Swabhiman Samvad’ rally here.
Citing the example of the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, he said farmers approached it for loan waivers and that was done within 10 days. A loan waiver worth Rs 70,000 crore was given to them.
“It was not a dole or a free gift. We did it because you work 24 hours for the country,” Gandhi said.
“The Congress never shut its doors on farmers… We want to work in partnership with farmers, the poor, labourers so that every section feels it is their government,” the former Congress chief said.
He accused Modi of leaving the farmers on the road amid Covid and cold for a year and not inviting them to listen to their grievances.
“India does not have a prime minister today. It has a king who believes that when the king takes a decision everyone else should keep quiet,” Gandhi alleged.
Referring to the wealth gap in the society, the Congress leader spoke about “two Indias” with such income disparity which is “not seen anywhere else”.
“We have one India of rich industrialists, five-star hotels and Mercedes cars and another India of the poor and the unemployed where inflation is rising. A select group of around 100 people have as much wealth as 40 per cent of India’s population. Such income disparity is not seen anywhere else,” he said.
“We don’t want two Indias but one India. We want the injustice to an end.”
Gandhi congratulated farmers for their resistance to the three farm laws, which were ultimately rescinded by the BJP-led Union government.
He said the Congress stood with them in their struggle because they were being subjected to injustice.
Congress campaign head for Uttarakhand Harish Rawat and the party’s state unit chief Ganesh Godiyal shared the dais with Rahul Gandhi at the rally which was his first in the state after the announcement of poll dates.
Uttarakhand goes to polls on February 14.
