M A I N   N E W S

BJP lacks national vision, says Rahul
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Attacks Modi Rahul said the Centre wanted to empower the people through the RTI, RTE, MNREGA and Food Security Act, but the BJP was trying to take away the power of the people by concentrating on one individual He said RTI was not implemented in Gujarat and Lokayukta was implemented after a court directive

Dehradun, February 23
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today lambasted BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for being “egoist and haughty”. The BJP lacked vision for the country and was power hungry. It was “playing politics of blood,” he said.

Rahul was addressing a rally organised by the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee in Dehradun. Without naming Modi, Rahul said a leader has been claiming all over the country that he alone was instrumental in Gujarat’s development.

He said the development that has taken place in various states was due to the hard work put in by each individual citizen, particularly women.

“The success of Amul in Gujarat is due to the efforts of countless women of the state,” he said.

Talking about Uttarakhand, Congress vice-president said he was hopeful that before the start of the tourist season, the entire infrastructure would again be in place.

“I have been assured by the state government that rehabilitation and reconstruction works will be in full swing. The new Chief Minister is working 18 hours a day and I have advised him to work 20 hours a day to mitigate the sufferings of the people hit by the natural calamity in Uttarakhand last year,” he said.

Saluting the armed forces for their heroic work during the disaster last year, he congratulated ex-servicemen on the grant of “one rank-one pension” by the Union government. Rahul Gandhi said that, for him, the meaning of politics means understanding the sufferings of the poorest of the poor and efforts to ameliorate their lot. For the BJP, politics means grabbing power by whatever means. He said that there was no place for ego and anger in politics.

He charged that the BJP and its leaders lacked vision. He said that when his father Rajiv Gandhi introduced computers, he was ridiculed by the BJP leaders, including a senior leader who later become Prime Minister and another leader who was the party president.

“They charged that computers would take away jobs and hit the common people badly. But 10 years later, BJP leader Pramod Mahajan claimed that computers were introduced in the country by his party,” he said.

The Congress vice-president said that his party, which has a long history, also has a vision to not only develop the country but to empower the people. “We want to empower the people through the Right to Information Act, Right to Education Act, MNREGA and Food Security Act, but the BJP wants to take away the power of the people by concentrating it in one individual,” Rahul said.

On the achievements of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre in the past decade, Rahul Gandhi claimed that through flagship programmes like MNREGA, a total of 14 crore persons living Below Poverty Line (BPL) have been economically uplifted.

The Congress also proposes to ameliorate the lot of 70 crore more persons who are involved in small businesses or jobs in the next five years through better training and education, he said.

“After RTI, RTE and Food Security Act, we plan to introduce free health cover for the poor in the next five years,” he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP and Narendra Modi, he said that RTI was not implemented in Gujarat and Lokayukta, which again was brought by the Congress, was implemented after a court directive. “You know that in the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, one person, namely the Chief Minister, has not been brought under its purview. This is the commitment of the BJP and its leader towards eradicating and fighting corruption,” he said.

Rahul said that despite numerous efforts, the BJP did not cooperate in Parliament on the passage of the five pending Bills aimed at fighting corruption. “We will bring in ordinance on these Bills,” he declared.