Modi Didn’t Declare Himachal Devastation National Calamity As It Had Voted For Congress, Says Priyanka Gandhi
Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), May 29: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi today alleged that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not declare the mass scale devastation and destruction in Himachal Pradesh due to natural disaster as a ‘national calamity’ because the state had voted in favour of the Congress.
Addressing a massive public rally in support of the party candidate Vikramaditya Singh here today, she said, instead of providing any relief to the devastated hill state, the BJP tried to uproot the government by resorting to “midnight theft” of legislators that was witnessed on television by whole country.
Alleging that there was a huge difference between what Modi preached and practiced, she pointed out, he would say that HP was his second home, but refused any relief over such a natural disaster just because people here had voted for the Congress.
She reminded people how the Congress party right from the Chief Minister down to the grassroots workers came to the aid of the calamity hit people. She said, they did not do any favour as it was their duty. At the same time, she said, no BJP leader was seen anywhere. She said, such occasions reveal the actual character of the people and tell who is with you and who is not.
Ms Gandhi said, HP has a massive potential for tourism. She was told that Kullu came on the tourist map after the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited the place. She promised that once the INDIA government is formed at the centre, tourism will be promoted and encouraged at a large scale.
She said, unlike the Modi government, which works only for a few billionaire capitalists, the Congress was working for the common people. She pointed out, how Adani had established a monopoly over apple trade in HP with the help of Modi. She said, while Adani manipulates the prices in HP, Modi helps him by lowering the duty on American apples thus putting the local farmers at a great loss and disadvantage.
The Congress general secretary said that the INDIA government will scrap the Agnipath scheme which had hurt and crushed the sentiments of the patriotic youth of the country who wanted to join the defence services and serve the country.
Announcing the guarantees of the Congress party, she said, every poor family will receive Rs 8,500 every month after the INDIA bloc forms the government. She said, in HP this will be in addition to Rs 1500 monthly cash assistance provided by the state government.
She said, there will be fifty percent reservation for women in central government jobs. Besides, she added, Aangawadi, midday meal and ASHA workers’ income will be doubled.
The farmers’ loans, she said, will be waived off, besides there will be legal guarantee for the MSP.
To address the problem of unemployment, she said, all fresh graduates will be entitled to one year apprenticeship during which they will receive Rs one lakh.
Besides, she said, the Congress party will set up a Rs 5,000 crore corpus fund for startups.
Referring to the removal of her mother Ms Sonia Gandhi’s name from the foundation stone at the Rohtang Tunnel, which she (Ms Sonia Gandhi) had laid down, she said, it really didn’t matter as long as people got benefited by the tunnel.
In a dig at the BJP’s questions as what did Congress do in seventy years, Ms Gandhi said, “yes the Congress actually did not do certain things in seventy years what the BJP achieved in ten years”.
She pointed out, the BJP became the richest political party in the world in just ten years, which the Congress could not become in seventy years. Nor did anyone in the Congress try to make it richest party, she added, while pointing out how BJP amassed huge money by collecting donations from COVID vaccine manufacturers whose vaccines are now being found to be having problems and also from the company that constructed the bridge in Gujarat which collapsed leading to death of so many people.
