New Delhi : Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi today warned the people of Rajasthan that in case the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, it will reverse all the welfare schemes his party’s government has launched in the state during the last five years as it only works for the billionaires. He made a passionate appeal for returning Congress to power to ensure the common man’s welfare.
At the same time, Gandhi expressed confidence that Congress would sweep the Rajasthan elections with an emphatic majority as people here have had the first hand experience of Congress government working for the common people like the farmers, the labourers, the small shopkeepers and traders and the youth.
Addressing largely attended election rallies at Tara Nagar, Nohar and Sadulshahar in Rajasthan today, Mr Gandhi said, the BJP only worked for billionaires like Adani, while the Congress worked for common people like the farmers, the labourers, the unemployed, small traders and shopkeepers.
Rahul Gandhi also announced several guarantees including Rs 10,000 yearly assistance for the woman head of every family in the state. The other guarantees included LPG cylinder for Rs 500, 25 lakhs health insurance cover, Rs 15 lakh insurance cover against natural calamities, free English Medium education, legal guarantee for ‘old pension scheme’ by enacting a law for it and dung procurement at the rate of Rs 2 per kg for the rural areas at Chhattisgarh pattern, which has proved to be a great success in solving stray cattle problem.
Accusing the BJP leaders of dividing people in the name of religion and caste, he said, while they (the BJP) divided people, the Congress unites them. “Hum nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukan kholte hain”, he said amidst thunderous applause from the crowd.
Reminding people about various welfare schemes Gandhi said, the Congress government opened 3,600 English Medium schools, 309 new government colleges and nine new government universities. He said, compared to that, the BJP privatises everything including the education and health sectors. He also took a dig at the BJP leaders for asking people to teach their children only Hindi and not English, while sending their own children to English Medium schools.
Gandhi pointed out how the Rajasthan government handled the COVID situation and referred to the “Bhilwara Model” that became popular across the country. He said, while Prime Minister Modi asked people to switch on the lights of their mobile phones and bang the utensils to fight the COVID, the Rajasthan government and the youth Congress volunteers went house to house distributing oxygen, medicine and food.
Rahul Gandhi reiterated that the Congress government at the centre in 2024 will hold the caste census at the national level and the Rajasthan government will hold caste census in the state immediately after returning to power. He said, it was very important to ensure the due participation of the OBCs in the government. He said, otherwise, right now the OBCs were not getting their due as far as their participation in governance was concerned. He quoted the example of how of the 90 Secretaries in the government of India, just three belonged to the OBC category.
Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, CWC member Sachin Pilot, PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra and other senior leaders of the party.
