Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat: Congress VP slams Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Jay Shah and Rafale deal

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday continued with the final leg of his two-day tour to poll-bound Gujarat. Rahul began his day by meeting a delegation of traders from Amreli.

After the closed door meeting with traders, Rahul held his first rally of the day in Lathi, a town in Amreli district. Rahul focused on Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation move and his silence over alleged irregularities in BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah’s company. “Demonetisation was implemented suddenly, maybe he did not like the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. On 8 November, the whole country was standing in line… But did you see any big industrialist from Gujarat in the queue outside banks? Did you see anyone coming in a Mercedes car?” Gandhi said. “Those who ride Mercedes cars, entered the bank from the back door, and got their black money converted,” he said. “This is the reality of demonetisation. The thieves got their black money laundered and you were left standing in queues,” he added. On the alleged financial irregularities revealed in Jay’s company, Rahul said, “Magically, Shah’s son’s company converted Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in three months… While anyone would usually run a profit making venture, the company was shut after three months,” he said. Rahul also claimed that the Modi government was avoiding holding the Winter Session of Parliament before the Gujarat elections because they were scared of issues such as Shah’s financial irregularities and the Rafale deal being raised. [caption id=“attachment_4235465” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amreli. Twitter @INCIndia[/caption] “Modi says he killed corruption through note ban. Can anything happen in Gujarat without bribing people?” Rahul asked the gathering. The people loudly said “No”. Rahul also added that everything, including education and medical facilities, are privatised in Gujarat. “Initially, 136 air planes had to be bought and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had to be given the contract. But suddenly Modi goes to France and while he changes the contract in Rafale’s favour, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was spotted buying fish at a Goa market,” Rahul said on the Rafale deal in Lathi. In the Patidar-dominated Lathi, Rahul promised to waive off all farmer loans within 10 days of the Congress coming to power in Gujarat. “For the first time I see people from every community coming on the streets to confront the government. The only people who are not doing so are the rich businessmen who fly private jets,” Rahul said. After Lathi, Rahul visited Dhasa in neighbouring Botad district, where he targeted Modi government over lack of jobs for the youth. The Congress vice-president also spoke on farmer distress while targeting Modi and his “suit-boot” friends. “There are farmer suicides everywhere. When there is loan burden, these farmers are forced to commit suicide. When they have a debt of Rs 20,000 or 50,000, they commit suicide. But when Mallya has a debt of Rs 9,000 crore, he does not commit suicide. Such people are enjoying in London,” Rahul said while targeting Modi in Dhasa. Claiming that Modi failed to fulfill its promise of creating two crore jobs every year, the Congress vice-president targeted the BJP-led Gujarat government over the Tata Nano project. “Have you ever seen Nano car on the roads? There was no employment generation for the common man. Only land was taken away from five main villages for the Tata Nano factory. People were promised employment but none of them were employed. Six lakh 50 thousand acres of land was taken away from common man,” Rahul claimed. Reiterating that the Congress government in Gujarat would be pro-poor, he said,“We won’t promise Rs 15 lakh to everyone. It wont be a government for 10 industrialists. It won’t be a land grabbing government. It will be a government which will be listening to the “mann ki baat” of the common man,” Rahul said,  concluding his speech in Dhasa. With inputs from agencies