Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday charged that the BJP had tried to hog credit for ushering in computerisation and telecom revolutions in the country, while the fact remained it was his party that had brought about the technological transformation despite criticism from a “senior-most” leader of the prinicipal Opposition party.
Continuing his tirade against the BJP on the second day of his tour of Maharashtra, Gandhi ridiculed what he called as “fashion” of the prinicipal Opposition party "to first rubbish the technological initiatives taken by the Congress, then go out of the way to take credit for something it did not do".
Addressing an election rally in the communally sensistive town of Bhiwandi in the neighbouring Thane district, Gandhi said: “I want to remind you that it was the Congress that brought about computerisation in the country. We had young leaders like Rajiv Gandhi, Sam Pitroda. What did the Opposition’s senior leader say then .. I do not want to take his name, but he was the senior-most leader. He said: Why is Rajiv Gandhi is talking about computerisationIJ Indian does not need computers and the computerisation would contribute to loss of jobs to youth. That was what the Opposition leader had said then”.
“You know for yourself what happened later. Computerisation transformed the country. Ten years later, the same senior-most BJP leader claimed credit for bringing in computers to the country. He also also claimed that it was the BJP that brought telecom revolution in the country. This is their fashion,” the Congress vice president said.
“The same people killed Gandhiji. The RSS logone Gandhijo goli mari (The RSS activists gunned down Gandhiji)...The same people are talking in reverence of Gandhiji. Sarfdar Patel was a Congress leader. He has written in clearcut terms about the RSS’ designs. Today, the same people tell the Congress Sardar Patel was their leader. See the irony, ideology is ours, leaders are ours. The same people opposed the leaders like Gandhi and Sardar Patel in their life time. Now after 15 to 20 years, the same people are trying to appropriate our leaders”.
Harping on his pet theme of the Congress being a party championing the cause of the poor, Gandhi said: “While we are for bringing about progress for the country, we would like to take care of the needs of the poor by empowering them.. That’s we brought about MNREGA, enacted legislations right to food, RTI, right to education etc. We brought in all these legislations because we believe in the strength of the poor”.
Ridiculing the Opposition’s claim “to do things in three months that the Congress did not do in 60 years”, Gandhi attributed the progress that the country had seen under the Congress since Independence to the hard work of farmers, women and people from various sections of the society. “But, the Oppoisition says it would do in three months what the Congress could in 60 years. When it makes such a claim, the Opposition is not respecting the intelligence of the people. The Congress is not claiming credit for the progress that the country has since independce. It is the crores of people who are responsible for the progress”
Debunking the NDA’s “India Shining” poll plank ofr 2004 , Gandhi hit out at the BJP saying: “When they talk of India Shining, they don’t talk about the poor , the weaker sections. When we brought MNREGA, they said it is a waste of money. When we brought the Food Security Act which give ensure food to the poorest, they said it is a waste of money. So only if money given to the rich is there developmentIJ We are not saying economic development should not happen. But everyone – the poor, the weaker sections, the rich – should get the fruits of development,” he said.
“If we talk about MNREGA or RTI, will it be only for one community, one religionIJ We believe it should be for all. Where ever the Opposition goes, their people create rift between different sections of the society like Hindus and Muslims, between one region and another. We believe in taking everyone along and take the country forward,” he said.
Alluding to local issues, Gandhi said that the Mumbai-Delhi metro industrial corridor wouild contribute to the creation of 13 new jobs in Maharashtra. “We are also converting Thane into an industrial hub. There is plan to create mega cluster for Bhiwandi powerloom. Cluster development scheme in Thane approved recently will benefit five lakh people and two lakh homes will be redeveloped. We are also trying to improve connectivity between Thane and Mumbai with wide roads and flyovers. A 126 km multimodal corridor between Virar and Alibaug is also in the offing,” the Congress vice president said.