Fight between politics of hate and inclusiveness: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the upcoming general elections in the country was a battle between two parties — one propagating politics of hatred and the other committed to keeping the nation united. “It is also a fight between haves and have-nots. The BJP is out to divide the country on communal lines, while the Congress believes in inclusive politics. The ruling party wants to fill the coffers of only a handful of rich businessmen, while the Congress wants to spread wealth among the poor,” he said.

Addressing a series of public meetings in Zaheerabad, Wanaparthy and Huzurnagar, the AICC president said his party was keen on giving wings to every youngster’s dream of starting his or her own business unlike the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who were only encouraging “scamsters’ like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi and the Ambani brothers. “The demonetisation exercise was only aimed at emptying the pockets of the poor and filling the pockets of the rich. Did any one of you find an Anil Ambani or any other businessman standing in the queue before banks to deposit the old Rs 1,000 notes,” he asked, adding that the ‘chowkidar’ was only protecting the rich.

Stating that while Congress was committed to eradicate ‘garibi’ (poverty) from the country, Modi was more interested in “wiping out the poor



from the country.” “Shouldn’t the farmers, the unemployed, underprivileged and the women of the country and Telangana dream of a decent life? If Congress comes to power, we will help the youth of the country get loans from banks to set up their own businesses,” he said, and promised to fill over 22 lakh  government jobs that will be vacant by March 2020.

Asserting that ‘Modi Hatao’ was the need of the hour for the country, Rahul Gandhi said: “The revival of Congress rule will usher in the ‘real make in India’. The Nyuntam Aay Yojna (NYAY) which would be implemented by the Congress, if it comes to power, would be the biggest surgical strike to root out poverty from the country,” he said, adding that after discussing with economists and intellectuals, Congress realised that it would possible to deposit Rs 72,000 annually into the bank accounts of five crore poor families whose monthly incomes are less than Rs 12,000. In the five years, Rs 3.6 lakh would be deposited into the accounts of women of eligible poor families, he said.

The Congress, he said, would also increase Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce and introduce a new system under which the unemployed can run small businesses without any permission from the government departments for three years.