Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election 2017: Rahul Gandhi claims development in hill state better than 'Gujarat Model

In his first ever election rally in Himachal Pradesh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on demonetisation, unemployment and Goods and Services Tax (GST). [caption id=“attachment_4196075” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Twitter @INCHimachal[/caption] Rahul, speaking at the rally, held just a day before canvassing ends, claimed the reason why Modi announced demonetisation on 8 November, 2016 was because he wanted to win the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He asserted that the prime minister made this decision without thinking of the hardship it would cause the common man. Referring to the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election, the Congress leader said that businessmen were blaming Modi for difficulties due to demonetisation and GST. Citing NITI Aayog figures, Rahul claimed that the hill state’s development model was far ahead of the ‘Gujarat Model’. “We work hard. We work day and night, unlike the Modi government which only makes tall promises,” he said at the rally in Paonta Sahib on Monday. The Congress leader also slammed Modi’s recent political decisions, claiming that they contradicted his political promises against corruption. “Modi talks about fighting corruption, but why does he have no issues in inducting Mukul Roy, Narayan Rane and BS Yeddyurappa into the Bharatiya Janata Party? Madhya Pradesh has seen the Vyapam scam. Over 50 people are dead, but has Modi spoken yet? Has Modi spoken a single word on Jay Amit Shah? You said you (Modi) are a ‘chowkidaar’ but you are a ‘bhaagidaar’ (accomplice),” Rahul said, taking a shot at Modi referring to himself the ‘chowkidar’ of the nation against corruption. Rahul also questioned Modi’s silence on unemployment. “During his election rallies (ahead of the 2014 general elections), Modi promised to provide two crore jobs every year. But what we see is he is only working for major corporations. China is getting jobs instead. They create one lakh jobs in two days but India is creating only 450 jobs per day. I am ashamed of this fact.” Rahul emphasised this point during his brief rally in Kangra as well, adding that the Centre should focus on this issue rather than celebrating 8 November, the first anniversary of the implementation of demonetisation. Rahul also slammed the prime minister for hurting tourism and fruit industry of Himachal Pradesh. He also highlighted the negative impact of the GST, and said, “Congress supports small businesses. We are not opposed to the GST. We (only) said that the government should have conducted a pilot study before implementing it.” He also said that if given the mandate, Congress would implement reforms in GST, “Everyone is suffering because of such a decision. When we come to power in 2019, we will make the GST more people-friendly,” he said at the Chamba rally. Himachal Pradesh will go to the polls on Thursday and will choose between a two-time former chief minister and BJP candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal and incumbent Virbhardra Singh, who has been chief minister six times for the Congress. The counting of votes will take place on 18 December, the same day as Gujarat election. With inputs from IANS For more updates, check  here