Amid demands from party activists, Congress President Rahul Gandhi may contest the Lok Sabha polls from a seat in Karnataka apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh where his candidature has already been announced.
There have been demands from Congress activists that Gandhi should be a candidate from a seat in southern India too.
In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested from two seats: Varanasi and Vadodara.
Congress party president Rahul Gandhi will commence Lok Sabha election campaigning in Telangana from Chevella constituency on March 9. Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting at Pahadi Sheriff, near Shamshabad airport, in Maheshwaram Assembly constituency and this will be an assurance meeting on minimum wage for people, said party sources.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is expecting participation of party cadres over two lakh in number from 36,000 polling booth cadres.
AICC general secretary and in-charge for Telangana Congress affairs RC Khuntia, TPCC chief Uttamkumar Reddy, senior leaders Sabitha Indra Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka, Sudhir Reddy, Konda Vishveshwar Reddy etc, discussed on measures to be taken for the massive public meeting.
“TPCC almost named the meeting as ‘Minimum Wage Assurance Meeting’ for the people. Rahul Gandhi will explain how Congress party will implement the minimum wage assurance scheme to the people once it comes back to the power at the Centre. We have examined several places in Narsingi, Shamshabad and finalised Pahadi Sheriff area for the public meeting,” said a senior Congress leader.
TPCC will take Rahul Gandhi’s prestigious scheme on minimum wage assurance to every household in Telangana. CLP’s proposed camp ahead of MLC elections has been put on hold considering Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Telangana. It may be recalled that CLP had proposed to camp its 19 MLAs to protect them from poaching by TRS ahead of MLC election. Telangana Congress wanted to take its 19 MLAs on a tour to a place, where Sabari river merges with the Godavari. The tour was scheduled on March 8 and 9.
YCP President Jaganmohan Reddy has changed his future strategy ahead of the 2019 general elections. He is almost taking a U-Turn in his approach towards the Congress party. Jagan now says he is not against the leadership of Rahul Gandhi at the national level. He asserts that his party, YCP, will give its support to only that national party which agrees to confer the Special Category Status on Andhra Pradesh.
Ironically for Jagan, it’s only the Congress which has already promised to put its first signature on special status file. Whereas, the BJP government has already made it clear that the special status is not possible based on the experts’ reports. But in the field level in AP, there are ample evidence of the YCP and BJP leaders mutually supportive of each other. Analysts say Jagan is playing the game carefully to show that his party is equip-distant to both the Congress and the BJP. But in effect, he is taking a different approach in the state level.
Jagan tried to strike this balance in his speech at India Today conclave in Delhi. Analysts say that Jagan is moving into a safe zone now so that he can keep his chances open in case the Congress gets a chance to form the government in the country after general elections. He cannot afford any unfriendly government at the Centre so soon.
AICC President Rahul Gandhi arrived and addressed the Congress Bharosa Bus Yatra at temple town of Tirupati. Rahul talked about the joint decision taken by all parties in the Parliament for giving special status to Andhra Pradesh. Ex PM Manmohan Singh made a promise to confer the special status on AP.
When a prime minister gave a commitment, it means every Indian has given that commitment. Rahul asked the Modi government why it neglected such an important commitment. He asserted that nobody can stop this to AP after the Congress party comes to power in 2019 election.
Rahul hit hard at PM Modi saying that he made many promises to AP from his Tirupati public meeting at the time of 2014 general election. Modi promised special status, jobs and prices to farmers but he did not fulfill any of them. Rahul assured the AP people that this time they would certainly get the status and their dreams would be fulfilled.
G.Ravikiran
AICC President Rahul Gandhi expressed his solidarity to the ongoing deeksha protest by AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu at AP Bhavan in Delhi. Rahul blamed PM Modi for the present pitiable condition of AP because of lack of any support to the ailing state due to non fulfillment of bifurcation promises. Rahul asked Modi why he was not able to list out demands that he had fulfilled to AP state.
Rahul further asked the PM whether he considers Andhra as not a part of India which is why no steps are being taken to meet the requirements of AP Reorganisation Act. The AICC president clarified that the former Congress government made many provisions for faster development of AP with special status and other promises but it is Modi who has turned a blind eye to the cause of implementing those aspects.
Rahul appealed to the people of India to reject Modi as he is telling all lies wherever he goes. There is a strong sentiment building up among the people now against the Modi government and this people’s sentiment will eventually lead to the defeat and dismissal of the BJP government in the coming general election. Rahul accused Modi of plundering AP’s money to feed Anil Ambani.
G.Ravikiran
All India Congress Committee President Rahul Gandhi made a scathing attack on the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and PM Modi. He accused RSS of running the Central government from its Nagpur headquarters while Modi is just the face of it all and nothing more. Rahul says it is the RSS which is playing a dirty role behind the musical chairs game in the Central Bureau of Investigation where honest officers are replaced by RSS-friendly officers.
Rahul said PM Modi is a cowardly person who is not having enough courage to face the opposition attack on the Rafale jet fighter scam. When the CBI director tried to investigate the PM role in the Rafale scam, the RSS leader Mohan Bhagavat interfered with this and changed the officers at their whims and fancies.
Rahul says in recent days, there is a clear fear in the face of Modi that he will certainly lose the coming general election. He asserted all the RSS friendly employees in key posts in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh will be shifted to non significant posts immediately. Rahul appealed to the Congress sympathisers and activists to wage a united battle as their unity will be the only weapon to chase away RSS and Modi.
Hyderabad: After the dismal performance in recently Assembly elections held in December 2018 in Telangana, Congress party high command is said to have asked its MLAs to come for a meeting at the national capital. Congress party president Rahul Gandhi has turned very keen on Telangana and wants to strategize the Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi is upset with the Telangana assembly results as the Congress party has created the Telangana state and suffered a humiliating defeat in both 2014 and 2018 elections. Congress party high command wants to know the ground realities. said a senior party leader.
Rahul Gandhi asked Congress MLAs to come out with reports analyzing the reasons for recent debacle in elections and suggestions on how to revive fortunes in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Several MLAs of Congress already reached New Delhi on Tuesday morning. Rahul Gandhi wants to interact with all the MLAs individually and senior party men, who have been loyal to the party long time, said a source. Congress party wants to make the Lok Sabha polls as a major fight with BJP only and it doesn’t want regional parties to get more number of MP seats as poll strategy and sentiment will be different for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
By announcing minimum income scheme, Congress National President Rahul Gandhi has created ripples in political circles across the country. He has promised to implement the scheme to ensure minimum income to all the poor families if the Congress is elected to power in the coming general election. This is for the first time that any political party has dared to come before the people with such an ambitious and challenging scheme involving expenditure of thousands of crores.
There is no definite shape on how the scheme will be implemented or what would be amount of minimum income being targeted by the Congress party. But the party leaders are excited about this programme which has raised expectations among the poorer sections. It is expected to increase chances of the Congress which has become the favourite for all the opposition parties in wake of rising dissatisfaction against the Modi-Shah duo.
Analysts says Rahul Gandhi’s scheme has already captured the imagination of the average voters. If the party can elaborate a little further on its full details, this would become a game changer in the coming election. Followers of the Gandhi family say the minimum income scheme will become as popular as the pro-poor slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ and programmes of Indira Gandhi whose popularity is still large among the poor people.
G.Ravikiran
Congress President Rahul Gandhi is leaving no opportunity to attack PM Modi on the issue of the Rafael jet fighter deal which involved thousands of crores. Rahul has criticised Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman recently for her continued defence of the irregularities committed allegedly by Modi to favour Anil Ambani.
Rahul demanded that Modi should give a statement on Rafael deal in the Parliament but Nirmala Sitaraman continued to represent the matter on behalf of the PM. This has enraged Rahul who went on to pass the controversial remark on the personality of the PM.
Rahul said Modi was always boasting of his 56-inch chest but he had taken the help of a woman to escape blame from the Rafael controversy in the country. There has been a lot of criticism from the BJP leaders who say Rahul has ridiculed women by passing such remarks against Nirmala Sitaraman. They said it is a matter of pride for the country that a woman is rendering services as the defence minister now. Rahul stuck to his remarks and replied that he would pass the same comments whoever will be there in the place of Nirmala Sitaraman.
G.RavKiran
It was a year Congress President Rahul Gandhi came into his own as a campaigner and strategist, emerging as a powerful voice in the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also earned his electoral spurs in tough Hindi heartland battles, helping his party win three states that will have ramifications in the Lok Sabha elections a few months away.
Rahul Gandhi began the year as Congress President, having taken over the post from his mother Sonia Gandhi last December at the culmination of party’s organisational elections.
The path was full of challenges as barring Punjab and Puducherry, where it had stormed back to power as also Karnataka — where it is the junior partner in the ruling colaition — the Congress was virtually starved of electoral victories since its Lok Sabha debacle in 2014. It had also not beaten the BJP in a straight contest anywhere in four years.
Gandhi went about the task methodically by identifying weaknesses and bridging gaps. He sought to beat Modi at his own game by expanding social media outreach and connecting with the audiences through witty, hard-hitting tweets and posts.
Gandhi consistently attacked Modi on issues linked to the common man — corruption, unemployment, farmers distress, demonetisation, price rise — and stepped up his efforts to portray the BJP leader as a “friend of the rich”.
He attacked the BJP on national security — a key plank of the ruling party — highlighting how the government had been “silent” on the Chinese build up near the Doklam site and its “failure” over the continued infiltration from Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gandhi sought to demolish the perception that Modi was “personally incorruptible” by taking repeated jibes at him over the Rafale fighter jet deal with France. He single-handedly made Rafale deal a national issue through press conferences, tweets and speeches and attacked Modi with “chowkidar is chor” (the guard is the thief) barb.
He travelled abroad to counter Modi’s outreach among the diaspora. Gandhi’s consistent articulation of issues, including job losses caused by demonetisation and the slowing down of economy due to “flawed implementation” of the Goods and Services Tax, seemingly put the government on the defensive.
The GST, which was simplified in the run-up to the Gujarat assembly polls last year, has been further eased after the BJP lost power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Gandhi aggressively clamoured for farm loan waivers and several state governments are likely to opt for the measure before the 2019 general elections.
Gandhi had been attacking Modi earlier too but his elevation as party chief sharpnened his attacks. Simultaneously, he addressed organisational issues, effecting changes in his team at the All India Congress Committee to create a combination of experience and youth.
Thus, the Old Guard, including Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel and Motilal Vora are part of the AICC team that also has several young leaders such as Jitendra Singh and R.P.N. Singh as in-charge of states. Gandhi strove to give the party general secretaries one state each to bring more focus on their work and ensured that party secretaries, mostly young leaders, were given specific responsibilities.
Realising that the Congress would need as much support as possible to oust the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance from power, Gandhi changed the Congress stance of projecting him as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 elections and said the decision will be taken after the polls.
He has been interacting with opposition leaders to build a common platform against the Modi government, a role which was initially perceived to be that of his mother and UPA chairpeson Sonia Gandhi.
To improve the party’s outreach among the vast informal sector, he created All India Unorganised Workers Congress. He also strengthened party’s efforts to get the support of youth, women, professionals, fishermen, tribaIs and scheduled castes.
A Data Analytics Department was created to study voters, workers and ground-level issues in a better way.
The thought to detail in working of the party is evident from the way All India Unorganised Workers Congress has been shaped with separate coordinators for NGOs and government projects, legal matters, auto rickshaw, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, the self-employed and domestic workers.
Gandhi also reached out to people directly through the social media.
“You cannot control social media. Gandhi has been gaining followers and his messages and posts are widely followed. Earlier BJP was setting the agenda and Congress was responding but now it is the reverse,” a Congress leader who did not want to be identified said.
As party chief, Gandhi has run far more elaborate and sustained assembly election campaigns than did Sonia Gandhi, who helmed the Congress for 19 years.
He sprang a surprise in his efforts to project the BJP as divisive and made its leaders angry when he walked to Modi during the debate on no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha and hugged him.
He also openly said that BJP leaders may call him “pappu” but he does not hate the party.
Realising how the Congress could not form governments in Goa and Manipur despite being the single-largest party, Gandhi moved swiftly in Karnataka earlier this year and entered into alliance with Janata Dal-Secular to keep the BJP out of power.
But the challenges that remain for him are herculean.
The Congress lost six assembly elections this year – Telangana, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland – despite the three wins in Hindi heartland and managing to be a partner of the ruling coalition in Karnataka. It is not in power in any state in the northeast, a party stronghold only four years ago. It is weak in the crucial states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and needs allies to win seats.
Next year is likely to be a make or break year for Congress, as the country goes to general polls.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday differed with DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s stand on projecting Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of opposition for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, saying that candidate should be decided after the polls.
“My stand is…post-election we’ll decide. I made it very clear, we should not announce a candidate today,” Naidu said at the “India Today Conclave South 2018” here.
Stalin had last week proposed Gandhi as the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate at a rally in Chennai.
The rally was attended by Naidu apart from several other opposition leaders.
Naidu has made efforts to bring opposition parties together against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
His Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had left the NDA earlier this year. The TDP had allied with the Congress and two other parties in the recent state election in Telangana but the alliance was defeated.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was showing signs of nervousness and exuded confidence that the Congress-led People’s Front will win Friday’s Assembly elections hands down.
Addressing a joint news conference with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu and leaders of other allies here to wind up the poll campaign, he said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief’s body language and his comments show that he was nervous and insecurity was building in him.
“He was quite abusive yesterday. He abused a couple of people earlier too and made comments like people of Telangana are not mature and they have no understanding. He also said he is going to take rest. All these are signs of reality coming to him.”
Gandhi said Telangana would be run by people of Telangana with the spirit of youngsters who sacrificed themselves for Telangana.
On who will be the Chief Minister, the Congress leader said discussion on this would start after achieving the goal of removing KCR from power.
“Five years ago people of Telangana had seen a dream and a vision. We are excited to finally start making that dream come true,” he added.
Gandhi alleged that the experience of Telangana over last five years had been betrayal of the dream of people of Telangana especially youngsters, who expected a modern state with new way of doing things but they instead got corruption.
Naidu said they were able to establish hope among people. He said Telangana was one of the best and rich states with excellent eco-system but it was totally spoiled.
“If we put it on right track, the benefits will go to the common man, the farmers, students and the unemployed.”
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister termed as false propaganda the allegations by TRS that he was trying to stall the irrigation projects in Telangana. He pointed out that all projects except one were started by him and continued by the previous Congress government.
Naidu said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was creating hatred between Hindus and Muslims, KCR was creating a rift between people of two states. He made it clear that he will have no say in the running the government in Telangana.
The TDP chief said all issues including sharing of river water between the two states could be solve amicably.
Rahul Gandhi said if voted to power People’s Front would focus on creation of employment and addressing the problems of farmers.
“KCR and Modi treated farmers as liability. We are absolutely convinced that farmers are the biggest assets and they need to be treated with respect. When Modi waived off Rs 3.5 lakh crore debt of 15 persons, people are asking why can’t he waive farmers’ loans? We are committed to do it in Telangana.”
It was after AP CM Chandrababu Naidu first met AICC president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi that the ground was set for Prajakutami’s effective functioning in Telangana. But that first meeting happened after a lot of speculation in political circles and it was something of a shock to AP Congress Committee president Raghuveera Reddy. In his view, something unthinkable had happened and it took a lot of time for him to recover from the shock.
Then on, Raghuveera found out what actually happened at the top leaders’ first meeting and what made Rahul get convinced over alliance in Telangana polls. It was Chandrababu who took the initiative and who told Rahul that no national or regional party will get more than 40 to 50 seats if they contest alone. Then it would be difficult to get power as the magic figure of simple majority is 60 in the 119-seat Assembly.
Raghuveera shared these details during one of his visits to Anantapur district when somebody asked about how Prajakutami alliance could be possible in Telangana. As dutiful leaders of the party, all Congress leaders had simply gone by the command of Rahul to work together with the TDP to bring pressure on the TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao. The Congress leaders are no doubt in a happy mood after seeing the good results in their joining with allies that is proving to be a big challenge to KCR in present polls there.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi had an election tour in Nizamabad district when he continued his stinging attack on CM Chandrasekhara Rao and his family. He said KCR son’s assets have gone up by over 4,000 times in the past four and half years while the state’s development has gone backwards under TRS rule. Rahul deplored the state’s fortunes took a bad turn despite the fact that Telangana was handed over Rs. 17,000 crore surplus budget at the time of formation of separate state.
Under the KCR regime, the wealth of Telangana was not used to improve the livelihoods of its people but rather CM’s family members have increased assets several folds, said Rahul. He further said the separate state was formed to meet the larger aspirations of people for water supply, job opportunities and funds for development but nothing of this became a reality because of the misrule of KCR.
Rahul alleged that unprecedented corruption took place in the name of redesigning of irrigation projects and the redesigned cost increased by Rs. 40,000 crore for just renaming Pranahita Chevella as Kaleswaram which was all to benefit one single family in the state. He deplored while the assets of KCR son went up, ordinary public suffered the most as not a single student got fee reimbursement under TRS rule.
Rahul asserted immediately after coming to power, Congress government will waive Rs. 2 lakh loans for every farmer with immediate effect and support price would be given for 17 crops as announced.
G.Ravikiran
Accusing Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) of enriching his family at the cost of Telangana, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised farm loan waiver and employment for youths if the Congress-led Peoples Front won the Assembly elections.
Campaigning for the Congress-led coalition here in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, Gandhi simultaneously targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR for crony capitalism and denying rights and protection to tribals and farmers.
“Modi at the Centre and KCR in the state diluted laws meant to protect the land of tribals. The result is tribal land is being snatched for industrialists without proper compensation. Despite having so much land and forest, tribals here have no protection and their rights are consistently trampled upon,” said Gandhi.
He said the only job KCR government had done is renaming old Congress government projects and inflating their cost to enrich the Chief Minister and his family and friends.
“Wherever you go you can see how your Chief Minister has indulged in corruption. He had promised jobs to two lakh youths but the only one to get the benefits are his family and friends,” said Gandhi, while accusing KCR of plunging Telangana into debts.
“When KCR became the Chief Minister, Telangana had a surplus of Rs 17,000 crore but today it is reeling under debts of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
“On one hand KCR is burdening every family with debts, on the other hand his son’s income has grown by over 400 per cent,” said Gandhi, referring to KCR’s son K.T. Rama Rao whose annual income has increased from Rs 29 lakh in 2014 to around Rs 74 lakh in 2018.
Claiming that over 4,500 farmers committed suicide during the KCR regime, Gandhi pledged to cancel farm loans to the tune of Rs 2 lakh each and giving minimum support price (MSP) for 17 crops including Rs 2,000 for paddy, Rs 7,000 for cotton and Rs 10,000 for chillies.
He also promised setting up 30-bed hospitals in every subdivision and giving Rs 5 lakh to eligible families to build houses. He also assured setting up a tribal university in the state and preventing the privatisation of the Singareni coal mines.
“Without protection of farmers and jobs to youth, a state cannot progress. KCR made only promises but never bothered to fulfil them,” said Gandhi.
Ridiculing KCR for not fulfilling the promise of building 22 lakh houses, Gandhi said it was time for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief to take rest in his “Rs 300 crore” house and let the Congress-led coalition work for the state.
Besides the Congress and Telegu Desam Party, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) are constituents of the People’s Front.
Elections to the 119-member Assembly are scheduled for December 7.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the development of Hyderabad hit a roadblock during the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)rule.
Speaking at a road show of “People’s Front” in the city on Wednesday night, along with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, he said the pace at which the city should have developed in the last five years had not developed as the wealth of the entire state went into the hands of one family.
Gandhi came down heavily on Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
He said Hyderabad had rapid growth and became famous across the world, thanks to the efforts of Naidu and Congress party.
He recalled that after the defeat of TDP in 2004 elections, he had acknowledged the role played by Naidu in the development of Hyderabad as an information technology hub.
Gandhi said Hyderabad was famous world over for the unity and brotherhood among its people. “The city doesn’t belong to people of one community or one region. Its doors are open for all. People live here in peace and harmony.”
The Congress chief said the harmony and brotherhood among people was facing threat from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was busy in dividing people and pitting one community against other and one state against other.
Naidu, who was Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004, recalled his association with Hyderabad. He said even TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao and his son and daughter admitted that the credit for building Hyderabad as IT hub goes to him. He wondered why they had now turned against him.
The TDP chief pointed out how he worked to build Hyderabad as the IT destination by bringing Microsoft and other global players to the city and developed the infrastructure.
Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) leader M. Kodandaram and leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI) also addressed the road show.
The Congress, which is leading the four-party People’s Front, is contesting 94 seats in 119-member Assembly. TDP has fielded candidates in 13 constituencies. The TJS and the CPI are contesting the remaining seats.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi addressed a series of election meetings in Hyderabad city limits when he made an attack on both PM Modi and CM K Chandrasekhara Rao. He described KCR as ‘actually Commissions Rao’ who has resorted to mind-boggling corruption instead of developing separate Telangana. He asked why KCR is silently supporting Modi’s anti-people policies at the national level.
Stating that a big battle is being waged in Delhi now, Rahul told a meeting at Nampally that there are BJP and RSS on one side while all the remaining parties are on the other side. When such a national level, intense battle is going on, it is not understandable why KCR is take the side of Modi, said Rahul. He accused TRS of having supported Modi with regard to the controversial demonetisation, implementation of GST and various other policies.
Terming Telangana polls as not an ordinary polls, Rahul said it is a kind of semi-final while the 2019 parliamentary election would be the finals. Prajakutami allies will win the election as KCR and his family have totally neglected the State and Hyderabad has lagged behind in every aspect in the past four and half years.
Rahul asserted GST had a bad impact on various businesses and Hyderabad city is not an exception to this. He further said TRS and Majlis were supporting Modi regardless of the fact that PM has been demolishing all democratic institutions in the country only to take political advantage.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi has accused TRS chief and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhara Rao of having supported every bill presented in the Parliament by the Modi government. This support has been extended at every step and KCR has supported Modi even at the time of no-confidence motion moved by the TDP. His comments come after several Congress leaders had dubbed KCR as a puppet and stooge in the hands of Prime Minister Modi.
During his election speeches in Telangana, Rahul Gandhi made an unsparing attack on KCR and his family. He said in the present election, there is KCR family on one side and all others including farmers, students and youth on the other side. The TRS government had troubled farmers by provoking lathicharge on them for demanding support prices for their produce. Rahul further said in the name of redesigning irrigation projects, KCR family has looted the public money and they have failed to provide water supply to lakhs of acres as promised earlier.
Rahul asked KCR why he is not joining anti-BJP front at the national level. He asserted Prajakutami will win with the people’s support and Congress party will get victory in all the five states now, which will set the stage for similar triumphs in the 2019 parliamentary election as well. He said that the Congress and the TDP entered alliance only in the interests of the people of Telangana and to counter KCR’s unjust regime.
Jana Senani Pawan Kalyan took strong objection to TDP President and CM Chandrababu Naidu entering an alliance with Congress in presence of Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. Pawan questioned the correctness of Naidu’s decision as TDP was helped to win in 2014 elections just for the sake of defeating Congress.
Recalling those days, Pawan said that he supported TDP-BJP alliance regardless of the fact that his big brother Chiranjeevi was a Congress leader at that time. Pawan made these remarks while talking to mediapersons from Janmabhoomi Express train during his ongoing tour from Vijayawada to East Godavari district.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shunting out the CBI Director because he was “pointing fingers” at the controversial Rafale deal.
“Do you know what the ‘Chowkidar’ did last night? He (Modi) removed the CBI Director because he had called for the files of Rafale deal,” Rahul said in Jhalawar, the home turf of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
In a post-midnight drama, the Centre on Wednesday virtually sacked CBI Director Alok Verma in the midst of a war at the agency’s top, a decision that drew condemnation from the opposition. Verma moved the Supreme Court, which will hear his plea on Friday.
Gandhi’s taunts on Modi and his accusations on the Rafale fighter planes deal drew applause from the audience.
Seizing the moment, Gandhi exhorted, “Taali Bajane Se Kuchh Nahin Hoga, Batan Dabane Se Hoga (clapping will not help, voting will).”
Modiji is known for his long speeches. He is always seen with dignitaries draped in ‘suit-boot’. However, neither he nor the Rajasthan Chief Minister is seen anywhere with farmers, he added.
Attacking Raje, he said that although Lalit Modi is sitting in London, he has given crores of rupees to the son of the Chief Minister.
He charged that Raje has closed 25,000 schools in the state, snatching the Right To Education of thousands of children.
The government refuses to waive off farmers’ loans. Farmers who fail to pay their loans are called defaulters, but when industrialists fail to pay their loans, the government gives them a red carpet welcome.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan’s State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore said that Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders were spreading lies.
He said that Rahul was unaware of the fact that Rajasthan was ranked second in the NCERT report in the education stream. A total of 78,000 teachers were appointed during the BJP government.
