Unemployment, not terror, key poll issue for LS polls, says Rahul Gandhi at Congress Working Committee meet in Gujarat

Speaking at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet in Gujarat, party chief Rahul Gandhi said Tuesday that unemployment is the key poll issue that the party will focus on while campaigning for the 2019 General Election to Lok Sabha across the country. “We will focus on unemployment and not terror. Terror is not the main issue for the 2019 polls,” Rahul was quoted by News18 has having said. At the party’s policy-making body meet at Sardar Patel National Memorial in Ahmedabad, Rahul also said no sacrifice was too great to defeat the RSS and BJP ideology of “fascism, hatred, anger and divisiveness”.

The meeting was followed by a mega rally at Adalaj town, where Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi addressed her first public rally after entering politics. During the CWC meet, Rahul underlined the grand old party’s resolve to fight the forces of hatred. “On the anniversary of Gandhiji’s historic Dandi March, the Congress Working Committee in Ahmedabad resolved to defeat the RSS/BJP ideology of fascism, hatred, anger and divisiveness. No sacrifice is too great in this endeavour; no effort too little; this battle will be won,” Rahul tweeted on the occasion. According to sources, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in her address lashed out at the Modi government for “politicising” issues related to national interest. [caption id=“attachment_6021271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Twitter@INCIndia[/caption] She also called for highlighting the achievements of the previous UPA governments along with emphasising on the need to move forward in providing a new vision for the country. Sonia further accused the prime minister of playing the “victim card”, adding “but it is the people of the country who were the victims of his wrong policies”. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who also addressed the meeting, talked about the agrarian crisis, the hampered industrial growth and unemployment under the present regime at the Centre. Patidar leader Hardik Patel was also present at the Sardar Patel Smarak meeting. Patel, who announced his decision to join the Congress two days ago, said the party would decide from which seat he would contest elections. “I have full faith in the Congress,”  News18  quoted him as saying. “I am glad I will work with Rahul Gandhi, who has been working for the welfare of the nation.” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the country’s principles and constitutional rights provided to its citizens were being constantly attacked. “Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his speech said an attempt is being made to create India in a different mould than the one envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and other freedom fighters,”  he said. The day-long meeting of the CWC comes barely two days after the Election Commission declared the poll schedule. It was also the first official meeting of Priyanka Gandhi, who was appointed as Congress general secretary in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh recently. The meeting was conducted in Gujarat after a gap of 58 years. The last such meet was held in the state at Bhavnagar in 1961. With inputs from PTI