Rahul launches poll campaign in Kerala, slams CPI-M, BJP-RSS

Rahul launches poll campaign in Kerala, slams CPI-M, BJP-RSS

Kozhikode: Launching his party's poll campaign in Kerala, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Thursday flayed the ruling CPI(M) in the State and BJP-RSS for allegedly indulging in violence and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring voices of farmers, fishermen and small businessmen. 

"BJP and CPI(M) use violence which is the weapon of the weak," Gandhi said mounting a scathing attack on the two parties at a massive election rally here this evening. 

In a whirlwind visit to the state after the election schedule was announced on Sunday, Gandhi also referred to the Rafale deal to attack Modi and reiterated his promise that a Minimum Guarantee Income would be provided to all citizens if the Congress party is voted to power. 

Stating that he was happy to come to a state where people of different ideas and religions live happily together, he said an "ideological battle" was being played out in the country today. 

Taking pot shots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi Gandhi said "the Prime Minister's job is not to tell the nation his Mann ki Baat but to listen to the mann ki baat of the people," he said. 

The congress president said the Congress was the "voice" of the country and not just the voice of one person or a community. It was the voice of all the people, he said.
 
"Congress does not want to impose anything on India. We do not want to impose any idea on this country. 
The Congress party wants to listen to what the people have to say and act accordingly. That's why the doors of Congress is open to everyone," he said. 

"While Congress listens to to everyone, RSS wants to tell India what to do. They have an ideology which they are convinced about and they want to tell everybody that their ideology is the truth," he said.
 
Comparing the people of India to the ocean, he said the BJP/RSS was like a person who talks to the ocean and wants to control the waves rather than listening to it. 

Gandhi said he meets the press every week and they are free to ask him any question.
 
"I listen to them. And the only thing our Prime Minister does is every week he tells the country what he thinks. Like a man who gets up in the morning, stands infront of the ocean and tells the ocean what he thinks.
 
Week after week the man comes to ocean and tells the ocean what he thinks. And what the man does not realise is that the ocean does not care about what he thinks," he said in a jibe at the PM. 
"Modi wants to have two Indias. One for the 15-20 friends of his and the other for the rest of the people," Gandhi said.
 
The congress party would bring out a minimum income guarantee scheme to ensure minimum income guarantee scheme to the poor and pass the women's reservation bill if voted to power, Gandhi said and attacked Modi on the Rafale deal. 

"The congress party is not going to allow anybody to get away from Justice. It doesn't matter even if he is the prime minister of India. 

Nobody is going to be allowed to steal from the Air Force," Gandhi said. 

Gandhi also lashed out at Modi for his silence over the rape allegation against a BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh.
 
Attacking the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, he said the left party thinks they can remain in power through violence and referred to the killing of two youth congress activists last month.
 
"No Way. I want to tell you that Kerala is land of justice. These two people (Kripesh and Sarath Lal) will get justice. Those who did it would face justice," he said, adding their ideology was "deformed." 
Continuing his tirade against the CPI-M, Gandhi said the only thing they could do is violence. 

"There are no jobs. Three lakh women in the cashew industry have lost their jobs... many cashew processing units have been closed," he said.
 
Earlier, interacting with fishermen at the National Fishermen Parliament at Triprayar in Thrissur district, Gandhi accused Modi of "ignoring" voices of farmers, fishermen and small businessmen. 

The NDA government listened only to industrialists such as Anil Ambani and Nirav Modi, he alleged. 

Responding to the grievances raised by members of the fishing community, the Congress chief vowed to set up a separate ministry for fishermen if the Congress is voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections, saying unlike Narendra Modi he did not make "fake promises". 

During the interaction, he also sarcastically said only 30 to 40 people in the country were getting the benefits of Indian banking system under the BJP rule and promised more bank loans to young enterpreneurs who can generate jobs if his party is voted to power.
 
Gandhi also took time off his hectic schedule to meet the families of three Youth Congress workers who were killed allegedly by CPI(M) activists.
 
The congress chief visited the homes of Kripesh and Sarath Lal, who were hacked to death last month in Kasaragod district, and consoled the grieving parents.He assured the family members that they would get justice.
 
Gandhi also met the parents of another activist Suhaib who was killed last year.

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