Rahul Gandhi sounds poll bugle in Chhattisgarh, says state 'has already made up its mind to remove Modi govt'

Just a few months before the state votes for a new Assembly, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government in Chattisgarh accusing them of ruining the country’s progress and cheating farmers. “The progress that India made was ruined by Modi ji in the last four and a half years. BJP, (Chhattisgarh chief minister) Raman Singh ji cheated the farmers. Now farmers are looking towards Congress,” Rahul said at a party meeting in Raipur after inaugurating a new party office.[caption id=“attachment_4939711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rahul Gandhi in Chhattisgarh. Courtesy: Twitter/@INCIndia[/caption] “Congress party will send those people to the Assembly who have fought for the people, whose heart have a place for Adivasis, farmers, youth and women. If a chief minister does not work for the youth, women, Adivasis of Chhattisgarh, then that CM does not deserve to survive a single day. Congress party, unlike BJP, does not belong to capitalists, it belongs to everyone,” the Congress president said. Like in many other meetings, Rahul also invoked the RSS angle while taking on the BJP government in the state. “BJP’s remote control is in the hands of the RSS. In fact, Chhattisgarh is being run from Nagpur,” the Congress president said. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is headquartered in Nagpur and is believed to be the parent organisation of the BJP. “Congress party’s duty is to bring out the truth of Modi government. Chhattisgarh has already made up its mind to remove Modi government,” he said. The Congress president claimed that there was rampant corruption in the BJP ruled states. “When the name of former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif appeared in Panama papers, he was convicted in it. In Chhattisgarh when the name of your chief minister’s son comes in Panama papers, the investigation doesn’t even begin. This is BJP-NDA’s ‘chowkidar.” Referring to recently discovered shelter home rapes in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress president also questioned the prime minister’s silence on the matter. “When women are raped in Uttar Pradesh, why does Narendra Modi not get a single word out from his mouth? When minors are getting raped in Bihar there is not a single word coming out from the prime minister,” Rahul said. “In BJP-ruled states, women are not safe. Atrocities against women have risen alarmingly.” The Congress president also took on the Modi government on the Rafale deal calling it the country’s biggest defence scam. Rahul claimed that the price of the Rafale jets “magically” rose from Rs 540 to Rs 1,600 crore per piece. “The UPA government had readied the Rafale contract, according to which the price for each jet was approximately Rs 540 crore. The contract was ready and Modi only had to take a decision,” he said. “But, Modi goes to France and scraps the previous contract and the defence minister and other cabinet ministers do not know about it,” said Rahul. With inputs from PTI