Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched the party’s campaign in Telangana for next month’s Assembly elections with a call to the people of the state to defeat BRS, saying “a vote for BRS will be a vote for BJP.”
Reiterating the allegation that the BRS, BJP and MIM were together, he said that the Congress is engaged in an ideological battle with the BJP across the country.
Stating that the Congress will never compromise with the BJP, he exuded confidence that the grand old party would defeat the BJP in all five states going to polls next month and in the entire country.
The Congress MP was addressing a public meeting in Mulugu along with his sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi after launching the party’s ‘Vijaya Bheri Yatra’.
Stating that the fight in Telangana was between the BRS and the Congress, he said the BJP was already facing defeat in the state and was aware of it.
“But the BJP wants the BRS to win in Telangana. They are working together and the MIM is also with them,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BRS extended support to the BJP whenever required, in Parliament. The Congress leader claimed that the biggest evidence of the collusion between the BRS and the BJP was that there was no CBI, ED or I-T inquiry against Chief Minister KCR.
“There are cases against all Opposition leaders. There are 24 cases against me. They evicted me from my house and snatched my Parliament membership,” he said.
“The BJP attacks the Congress across the country. They file cases against our leaders. They know that the Congress is an ideology-based party and we can never compromise with the BJP,” he added.
The Congress MP listed out the six guarantees announced by the party last month. Speaking in a region with a large tribal population, he promised that once voted to power the Congress would give them back rights on Podu lands and assigned lands.
He also assured that if the Congress was voted to power at the Centre, the Sammakka Sarakka tribal festival of Mulugu will be given the status of a national festival.
Claiming that the Congress does what it promises, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress promised Telangana state in 2004 and it carved out the state despite knowing that such a decision could damage the party politically.
Targeting KCR, the Congress leader said he did not fulfill his promises of three acres of land for every Dalit family, a job for one person in every house, and clean governance in the state.
He reiterated that there was a scam of Rs.1 lakh crore in the Kaleshwaram project. He alleged that people’s lands were snatched through the Dharani portal scam.
“He promised houses for you. He promised to farmers that their loans of one lakh rupees will be waived off, but failed to fulfill them,” he said.
The Congress MP urged the people to see Congress-ruled states like Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where the Congress did what it had promised.
He claimed that the healthcare system of Rajasthan was the best in the country while farmers in Chhattisgarh get the highest MSP for their produce.
“In Karnataka we gave five guarantees and in the very first Cabinet meeting we implemented them. Today women are travelling free and farmers and women are getting money in their bank accounts every month. We have done what we had promised,” he added.