(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Congress president Rahul Gandhi yesterday made a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of corruption, and promised to break walls in the party between workers and leaders to revitalise it for the 2019 Lok Sabha election battle.
In his concluding remarks at the party's 84th plenary, Gandhi said 'the name Modi symbolises collusion between corrupt businessmen and the prime minister of India, termed Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah as 'a man accused of murder and accused Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of trying to control institutions including judiciary, parliament and police.
The party adopted resolutions on economic situation and foreign policy on the concluding day of three-day session and authorised Gandhi to nominate members of the Congress Working Committee.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, in his remarks, accused Modi of resorting to further ‘jumlas' by promising to double farmers' income and charged his government of messing up the Indian economy.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram, who moved the resolution on the economic situation, accused the government of not generating jobs and damaging existing employment through demonetisation and flawed implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and said only the Congress can bring the country out of the present 'crisis.
Gandhi, who got rapturous applause from the assembled gathering at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, packed his address with a lot of punches at Modi, the BJP and RSS.
He sought to energise the Congress rank and file with the party having tasted some electoral success in recent past after a string of reverses over the past four years.
Gandhi particularly focused on the youth and farmers, sections that are perceived to be getting disenchanted with the government, and whose support is critical for the Congress to make an electoral comeback in 2019.
He promised to create jobs for the youth and, referring to the Rs700bn farm loan waiver by the UPA government, said the party would be prepared to help farmers in a similar way if needed.
Gandhi also sought to take the sheen off Modi particularly on the issue of corruption with his fiercest attack on the BJP leader, and referred to former Indian Premier Leagure (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi and diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, who are accused in different cases of fraud for the purpose.
'Nirav Modi, who carried out India's biggest theft has the same name as our PM. It's an interesting fact that there is more. The most corrupt man in cricket also shares the same name with the PM. So what does Modi actually mean? The name Modi symbolises the collusion between the India's biggest crony capitalists and the PM of India, he said.
'Modi gives Modi Rs30,000 crore of your money and, in turn, Modi gives Modi money for marketing Modi and winning elections. That is what is going on, he said.
Accusing the prime minister of hoodwinking people with his promises he charged Modi with trying to divert the attention of people and 'jumping from one event to another, surgical strikes to demonetisation, from Gabbar Singh Tax to a fancy yoga parade in front of parliament.
Attacking BJP president Amit Shah without naming him, Gandhi said: 'They (the people) will accept a man accused of murder as the president of BJP. But the people will never accept the same in the Congress Party as they expect higher standards.
He accused the RSS of telling Muslims that 'you don't belong to here, Tamils to 'change your beautiful language, people from the northeast that 'we don't like what you eat and women to 'dress properly or will thrash you.
Gandhi said people go to courts for justice, but for the first time judges went to people for justice.
Seeking to inspire the party rank and file, he said: 'Congress workers will show in 2019 how party fights an election and wins it.
MENAFN1803201800670000ID1096614313
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.