PUNE: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday harped on the ‘pro-rich toffee model of development’ in Gujarat and said industrialists who had reaped its benefit were funding Narendra Modi’s expensive election campaign.
“He is spending about Rs 10 crore on each public meeting. There are advertisements in newspapers. Where is this money coming from? Those who have gained from the toffee model are funding this marketing,” Rahul said. He was addressing a rally in Pune in support of party nominee Vishwajeet Kadam on the last day of the election campaign for the Lok Sabha constituencies in the sugar belt of western Maharashtra. These constituencies are scheduled to go to polls on April 17.
Rahul reiterated that Modi has given land of Aurangabad’s size, around 45,000 acres, for a mere Rs 300 crore to Adanis. He also said Gujarat government has given away sea beach stretch equal to Mumbai’s total beach line to an individual at a price of Rs 33 crore. “The Gujarat government has given Rs 10,000 crore to the Tata Group for the Nano factory with just one per cent interest rate,” he added.
Accusing Modi of claiming the credit for the work done by the people of Gujarat, Rahul said, “He (Modi) wants to be the chowkidar of the country. He was made the chowkidar of Gujarat and we can see what has happened to that state.”
The Congress vice president said that the Gujarat government should have invested in education and health. “About 40 lakh people in Gujarat are living below poverty line and one of every two children is hungry. People are yearning for water in Gujarat. Despite of this, the toffee model money is flowing in for marketing,” said Rahul.
Congress vice president invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and compared BJP’s ideology with that of Nathuram Godse, who killed Gandhi. “Only love and affection for everyone can take this country forward. However, there is second ideology—ideology of Godse, which is full of hatred and anger for others. Godse killed Gandhi because he could not kill his thoughts. Gandhi’s ideology is our ideology” Rahul said.
Rahul said that earlier LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to discuss various issues openly; now only one person in the BJP was in-charge of everything. He claimed that the BJP has copied Congress party’s election manifesto. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre were among those present for the meeting.
Rahul promises speedy metro work and slum free Pune
Rahul Gandhi said that Congress candidate Vishwajeet Kadam will facilitate development of the city by speeding up the execution of the slum rehabilitation schemes and the metro project. “I want to assure Pune people that Congress party will eradicate slums and also solve the city’s infrastructure problems. We will speed up completion of metro project. We plan to connect Pune to other major cities in India by road network and a new railway line. Pune is already a manufacturing centre and we will focus on making it more compatible.”
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