Rahul Gandhi takes potshots at BJP govt in poll-bound Gujarat, says note ban, GST adversely impacted economy

Addressing farmers at Bhatiya village in Kalyanpur taluka of Devbhoomi Dwarka district, Rahul said unemployment was high and farmers of the country were not getting good prices for their produce. “India, Gujarat are today bothered by two major issues. Firstly, you go to any state- Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan– youth are not getting employment. Prime Minister had said that he will provide employment to two crore youths every year. And youth of Hindustan (India) trusted him. We sought to know from the BJP minister in Parliament as to how many youths you had given employment this year against your promise of giving employment to 2 crore. In the entire country, BJP government helped only one lakh youth to get employment,” Rahul said, using term “Hindustan” for the country repeatedly.

It is also significant that he began his Yatra by first visiting a religious place.

He said the youths of the country wanted work but were not getting opportunities. “Har roj, 30,000 naye yuva rojgar dhundhne nikalte hain. Hindustan ki sarkar unme se sirf 400 logo ko rojgar deti hain. Hindustan ka yuva kaam karna chahta hain, desh ko banana chahta hain. Par NDA ki sarkar, BJP ki sarkar unko rojgar nahi de pa rahi hain (Every day, 30,000 new youths set out in search of employment. But Indian government gives employment to only 400 of them. Youths of the country want to work and want to contribute in nation-building. But the government of NDA (left by) BJP is unable to give them employment)

Rahul said the second issue was concerning farmers across the country who were not getting good prices for their produce and were hit hard by demonetisation. “I want to ask farmers of Saurashtra, do you get remunerative price for your groundnut? (the crowd shouts a loud “No” in reply). Go to any district of the country, any village and ask this question. Farmers are replying negatively. On top of this, don’t know what had happened but Modi ordered notebandi (demonetisation). Country suffered huge loses. Farmers buy seeds by paying in cash. There are farmers here. I want to ask you. When you buy seeds, do you pay by mobile or phone? Do you pay through cheque or credit card? Do you pay labourers through cheque (crowd again says no). You pay in cash. Don’t know what happened but Modi launched a severe attack on the economy of the country without consulting anybody, ” said the Congress vice-president.

Rahul also took potshots at the BJP government in Centre alleging it rushed into GST and pushed lakhs out of business. Small shop-keepers and businessman took a hit due to demonetisation, Rahul said while adding that the implementation of GST only made matters worse for them. “We suggested introduce a GST with one tax rate and do not rush into the new regime. But they were in a hurry. They introduced a GST with five slabs of tax rates. And today, small businessmen have to file three forms every month. Big companies have accountants. But these small businessmen are unable to fill up forms. Lakhs have shut shops,” said Rahul.

He charged that only big companies were benefiting in Gujarat model of development. “There is a grim scenario in the country. On the one hand, people are not getting employment, farmers are not getting bonus and on the other, you know this very well, who is getting all the benefits. Who knows this better than you. There are five-six companies here. They get land, electricity, water etc. This is Gujarat model. They don’t have a place for anybody who is poor, who doesn’t have money,” said Rahul.

He said that if Congress is voted to power in Gujarat, its government will work for farmers, for youths and for the poor.

Sarpanches at Vadodara complained to the Congress vice-president that they were not allowed to work as their powers had been transferred to officers. They also said that they were not getting grants even to repair streets.

Assuring them that they will have a say in government if Congress wins the upcoming Assembly election, Rahul said: “You will run the government. The government will run from villages. Rajiv Gandhi brought panchayati Raj. Most corruption in the country takes place in revenue matters. Chief ministers in our country collude with a few big companies and take away land. This was the reason we brought about the new land acquisition act. We also empowered sarpanches through MNREGA,” said Rahul.

Rahul travelled on board a special bus for his tour. Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki and senior Congress leaders Arjun Modhwadia, Shaktisinh Gohil and AICC inch charge of Gujarat, Ashok Gehlot were accompanying Rahul.

Rahul was to reach Jamnagar late in the evening and interact with businessmen before halting for night there.