Commencing the second leg of `Deoria se Delli Kisan Yatra’ from Bakshi Ka Talab on lucknow-Sitapur border, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not meeting the farmers and the poor and only interacting with them in a one-sided manner through ‘mann-ki-baat’.
“Is the PM afraid to meet the farmers at their houses IJ Why does the PM want to talk to the farmers from 2000 kms away through the net IJ People are not interested in the PM’s mann-ki-baat till he hears the people’s maan ki baat. We want that the PM should visit the farmers to know their problems,” said Rahul addressing small meetings en route to Sitapur.
“Why is Modi ji a PM when you does not want to meet people and know their problems. He must know the plight of the labourers, farmers, youths and poor from them, but he is afraid to meet them,” the Congress leader charged.
Citing example, Rahul said, “I am meeting Anganbari workers during my yatra today. But Modi ji would only talk to a handful of Anganbari workers through the net. The response has to be different in both cases.”
Interestingly, Rahul also trained his gun at Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for not supporting the secular front of Nitish, laloo and Congress in Bihar polls.
“When Congress allied with Nitish and laloo allied ahead of the Bihar polls, Mulayam did not join the war against the BJP,” he stated giving a veiled signal that he was not in favour of a Bihar-like formula esepcially with the SP or the BSP, as the two have time and again joned hands with the BJP to defeat the Congress.
The Congress vice-president said that Congress is committed to fighting against the BJP. “We will form a government for the poor, the farmers and the labourers in UP and in the country,” he stated.
On Monday morning, Rahul reached lucknow from New Delhi by a commercial flight to commence the second leg of the Yatra after a two-day break. On its 17th day, the Yatra will witness a road show in Sitapur and a Khat Sabha in lakhimpur Kheri district, with Rahul halting for the night at a guest house in Kheri. The Yatra will conclude in Meerut on October 4.