Chhattisgarh govt world champions in corruption: Rahul Gandhi

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today accused the BJP government in Chhattisgarh of being ‘world champions’ in corruption and said the Congress party’s leader Nand Kumar Patel was killed by Maoists to prevent him from becoming the next Chief Minister. “They are world champions at corruption,” Gandhi said while addressing a public rally in Rajnandgaon ahead of the state polls. “Six lakh acres has been taken away from the people of this state and given to industrialists,” he said, adding that the recently passed Land Acquisition Bill would ensure people received just returns in the future. Gandhi promised that if the Congress came to power it would ensure that poorer sections of people wouldn’t be ignored. “Here the Congress will win the elections… This water, land and jungle is yours. The state is yours and what the BJP is taking away from you we will ensure is returned. If you want to give it to industrialists it will go with only your consent and at a price you want,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_1218765” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rahul Gandhi has said the state government failed to act against Maoists. PTI[/caption] The Congress leader said that the state government despite its claims of combating terrorism had failed to prevent the killing of the party’s senior state leaders on 25 May. “They say here that they are combating terrorism… When our full leadership team was killed they said that it wasn’t their fault but that of the Centre,” Gandhi said. “Nand Kumar Patel was yours and he was taken from you. The attack which took place was not on the Congress party. The killings were an attack on the voice of the people, don’t forget that,” he said. Gandhi said he had warned Patel from campaigning in areas where he could have been targeted by the Maoists, but the senior leader had told him that he had to campaign since he was ‘a man of the people’. “Nand Kumar Patel was going to be the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and nothing could have stopped it. There was only one way to stop him and that was to kill him,” Gandhi said. The Congress Vice President blamed the current BJP government for poverty in the state and said that despite being a state rich in natural resources the people were poor. Gandhi said that the benefits of all the schemes passed by the central government were not reaching its intended recipients in the state. He also said that the Congress had attempted to increase accountability of governments through legislation like Right to Information. We have made things like food, education and employment a right so that it is universally available and not in the hands of a bureaucrat who decides who gets what, he said. Gandhi said that Congress-administered states in the country were the most progressive and if given a chance the party would ensure that employment opportunities were created in Chhattisgarh as well. “You go to Mumbai and Bangalore for employment. Those are Congress ruled govts. We will bring employment to this state. You won’t have to go to Mumbai and Bangalore to get a job,” he said. The leader claimed that the BJP ensured that the Chief Minister had all the power in the state and never allowed the people to have a say in the government’s decisions. “They want that the entire power rest with the chief minister and also those with him enjoy benefits. And then they make big speeches about ensuring people benefit,” Gandhi said.