Rahul Gandhi targets Narendra Modi on traders' losses ahead of second phase of Gujarat polls

New Delhi: Ahead of the second phase of polling in Gujarat on 14 December, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for causing losses to small traders in the state and asked whether his government would take responsibility for that. Taking forward his ‘one question a day’ series, Gandhi said BJP’s twin moves of demonetisation in November last year and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July this year have hit small traders of Gujarat and caused losses to the state’s business hubs such as Surat and Rajkot. “Small traders are high and dry while major industrialists are thriving. Demonetisation and GST have hit trade hard in Surat, Rajkot, Alang and Anjar. Will your government take responsibility,” Gandhi asked Modi ahead of the second-phase polling in northern and central Gujarat. The Congress vice-president in a tweet later promised the right to health to Gujaratis by pledging to issue Sardar Patel health cards for free treatment, air ambulance services in emergency situations, Indira Canteens for nutritious food and new hospitals for healthcare access if his party was voted to power in the state elections. Gandhi has started ‘a question a day’ series on the social networking site with the tagline “22 saal ka hisab,Gujarat maange jawab (22 years of account, Gujarat demands answers), referring to BJP’s uninterrupted rule in the state during the period.   Click here for detailed coverage of Gujarat Assembly Election 2017