Rahul Gandhi in Himachal Pradesh as it happened: PM has hurt state's farmers and tourism industry, says Congress VP

Rahul Gandhi slams Narendra Modi for his silence on employment 

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that the Modi administration makes noise about Make in India, Swachh Bharat, start-up India, bullet trains and so on, but he has said nothing about the most important issue, employment. “And then he says he will celebrate 8 November…what kind of celebration will he hold?” “You spoke about giving 2 crore youths employment, make it possible,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi speaks at Gandhi Ground in Kangra

With just over a month left for the Assembly elections to take place in Gujarat, Congress has upped the ante against BJP in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been touring the poll-bound state extensively and addressing rallies in several constituencies of coastal Gujarat and Saurashtra. Later this week, he will embark on a three-day tour of north Gujarat, hitherto considered a BJP stronghold.

Rahul Gandhi arrives at Chamba

The people of Chamba awaiting Rahul Gandhi

Narendra Modi has hurt Himachal Pradesh’s tourism industry and its farmers, says Rahul Gandhi

We will bring better version of GST, says Rahul Gandhi

Several Congress leaders from Himachal, Punjab waited for Rahul’s arrival 

Rahul Gandhi at Paonta Sahib

Demonetisation is linked with UP elections, claims Rahul

“Modi wanted to win the Uttar Pradesh state Assembly elections this year, and that is why he introduced the demonetisation drive without even thinking of the people,” says Rahul Gandhi.

Ashamed that China is able to create jobs but not us, says Rahul

“Employment is a major issue but Narendra Modi government has failed to provide jobs to the youth. During his election rallies, Modi promised to provide 2 crore jobs. But what we see that he is only working for major corporations. China is instead getting jobs. They create 1 lakh jobs in 2 days but India is only creating 450 jobs in a day. I am ashamed of this fact,” Rahul said.

We will modify GST when we come to power, says Rahul

“We are not opposed to GST. We said that the government should have condcuted a pilot study before implementing it. But government did not listen. Now everyone is suffering because of such a decision. When we come to power in 2019, we will make GST more people-friendly,” Rahul said.

Modi is bhaagidaar and not chowkidaar, says Rahul

“Businessman in Gujarat are blaming Modi for the difficulty they are facing due to demonetisation and GST. Modi talks of fighting corruption but why does he have no issues in inducting Mukul Roy, Narayan Rane and BS Yeddiyurappa. 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 are chowkidaar but you are bhaagidaar,” Rahul said.

Rahul Gandhi uses government data to bolster Himachal’s socio-economic development 

In Paonta Sahib, Rahul Gandhi uses data from Niti Aayog to praise Himachal Pradesh government’s development agenda. He compares Gujarat with Himachal Pradesh based on government’s data on education, healthcare and immunisation to discard “Gujarat Model”. 

“We work hard.We work day and night, unlike the Modi governmwnt which only makes tall promises,” Rahul added.

Rahul Gandhi praises Virbhadra Singh

“There are two kinds of people in the world. Some people work hard and there is another category of people who do not work but claim credit for all the work done by others. Virbhadra Singh belongs to the first category,” Rahul said.

Virbhadra Singh thanks  Rahul Gandhi 

Before rally, Rahul visits Paonta Sahib Gurdwara

Rahul Gandhi taunts Narendra Modi at Paonta Sahib

Rahul invokes Bhagwad Gita in Paonta Sahib

Himachal Congress says ‘Virbhadra Phir Se’

Congress attacks Gujarat’s immunisation record

Can the old warhorse of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh win the most crucial election of his life? Political pundits swear he will not be able to break away from the anti-incumbency trend wherein since 1985, people of this state have always booted the ruling party out of power every five years.

Singh realises this only too well. At 83 years, he knows he is not going to get another chance and so he is leading the charge from the front. But he is facing a formidable enemy in the BJP armada and with the BJP high command’s announcement of PK Dhumal’s as chief ministerial candidate, some of the stings from the Congress criticism of infighting in the BJP ranks has come to a halt.

Read the full report here

Interestingly a few Congress leaders who were assigned election duties in Himachal, remained confined to their hotel rooms in Shimla. “What’s the point in addressing an election rally if there are few people to listen to you?” confided a senior former minister.

But credit is due to the old war horse of the Congress, Virbhadra Singh, popularly called ‘Raja’ (of the erstwhile state of Rampur Bushhar), who addresses four to five rallies each day in various parts of the state. At times he travels by helicopter but mostly hits the road as he tells his audiences, which are impressive, that the BJP government at the Centre has sealed all his funds on “trumped up charges” of corruption and irregularities in Income Tax accounts.

He tells the people that the Centre has unleashed the IT department, the Enforcement Department as well as the CBI to probe just one case. The plea finds resonance in Himachal where his supporters think that the amount in question, Rs 4-5 crore, was petty enough for the Raja to indulge in corruption.

Read full report here.

Virbhadra Singh welcomes Rahul Gandhi to Himachal

The ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh released its manifesto, promising to strengthen the farm sector by granting interest-free loans to farmers, creation of 1.50 lakh jobs in the government sector and free laptops to 50,000 college students.

Restoration of the pre-2004 pension scheme, regularisation of contract employees after two years, enhanced daily wages, social security pension and appointment of anti-corruption grievances commissioner were the other promises made in the manifesto.

After several years, brand Rahul Gandhi is in demand again. Every morning these days, we wake up to find Gandhi either trending on Twitter (read Pidi) or dominating headlines on Google, both considered indicators of popular interest.

Who would have thought, to rephrase Lady Macbeth, the young man would one day generate so much interest? His one-liners are finding traction. Images of his extra-curricular activities are going viral. His election rallies are drawing crowds and applause. And young girls are clicking selfies with him. As the inimitable Richie Benaud would have said, it is all happening here, in our lifetimes.

What is the reason behind this sudden surge of interest in the Congress vice-president? Why is a politician branded as the Bahadur Shah Zafar of his dynasty, derided as Pappu, subjected to cruel memes and jokes, getting both applause and attention?

Read the full opinion piece here

Himachal Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Virbhadra Singh on Sunday urged the Election Commission to ensure proper security of VVPAT machines from the day of voting for the Assembly polls on 9 November till 18 December, the date of counting of votes.

Expressing his faith in the poll panel, he said the period between voting and counting is long, assurance for proper safety of the machines is required.

Comparing Himachal Pradesh’s record in employment generation, healthcare and education with that of Gujarat, the Congress party on Sunday said, that in the last five years, the Singh government provided government employment to 70,000 youth.

“Gujarat, the state often held up as the ‘model’ by the BJP lags at 10,000,” Congress said. Congress said that 55 government colleges were established under its rule, while Gujarat managed to set up just 25 such colleges.

The party noted that Himachal Pradesh provides an unemployment allowance of Rs. 1000 to its youth, while Gujarat has no such provision. 

“Himachal has seen the setting up of 230 health centres in the last five years of Congress-rule, while Gujarat failed to set up even one. In fact, in the last five years of BJP rule, Gujarat has seen the closure of 13,000 government schools,” Congress said while comparing healthcare and education sector with Gujarat’s.

“In the last five years, the Congress government has provided government employment to 70,000 youth. Gujarat, the state often held up as the “model” by the BJP lags at 10,000. 55 government colleges were established under Singh’s rule, while Gujarat managed to set up just 25 such colleges,” the party stated on its official page on Medium.

Himachal: A major state under Congress control 

The Congress is now left in only three major Indian states. Himachal was won in 2012 and Karnataka in 2013, at least a year before the debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, the party has been able to win only in Punjab since then.

Addressing the pre-dominantly tribal audience, Gandhi also blamed the state government for not implementing the tribal bill introduced by the UPA government.

“Ask Modi-ji when he comes here (Gujarat), you had promised to create jobs for two crore youths, today only 450 youths get job. Also ask why did you snatch away the land of farmers. And also whether you are giving the Narmada water to tribals, farmers, or only your corporate friends,” he said.

“Only Congress can offer you jobs, education, health care. We will not make false promises like giving Rs 15 lakh. Sometimes you may not like the truth. But this state cannot go ahead without truth. No one better than Gujarat understands truth… Two sons of Gujarat, Gandhi-ji and Sardar Patel fought against a superpower and let it know the power of truth,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Rahul Gandhi has actively been campaigning in Gujarat 

In the last two months, the Gandhi scion has visited the poll-bound state at least four times. His last tour was between 2 and 4 November, when he visited Vapi, Valsad and Surat in southern Gujarat.

RECAP: Rahul Gandhi asks Modi to resign if he cannot control price rise, deliver on jobs

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today asked the Narendra Modi government to stop delivering “hollow” speeches and quit if it was unable to stop prices from rising and give jobs to the people.

Gandhi, whose Twitter feed has become more active of late, posted on the micro-blogging site: “Mehngi gas, mehnga ration, band karo khokhla bhashan, daam bandho, kaam do, varna khali karo singhasan.”

This roughly translates to “costly gas, dearer food items, stop delivering hollow speeches, fix prices, give jobs or quit the seat of power”.

PTI

Drawing an analogy with the Pandava-Kaurava tussle in the epic Mahabharata, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on 3 November said that the fight between his party and the BJP in Gujarat was one between “truth and lies”, where the truth lay on the Congress’s side.

Gandhi said that while the prime minster was armed with his “government, police, army, governments in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh”, he had truth on his side “and we need nothing other than truth”.

Rahul to hold rallies across three districts 

While the Congress vice-president will begin his campaign from Sirmour district, he will also address rallies in Kangra and Chamba district.

Rahul Gandhi to visit Himachal Pradesh today