Congress party’s national president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday projected the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Jharkhand as the custodian of tribal rights, land, forests and water. Addressing an election rally in Simdega under tribal-dominated Khunti parliamentary constituency, Gandhi painted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as protector of industrialists and claimed that the Congress party, on the other hand, was favouring commoners over capitalists.
“Narendra Modi has waived off loans to the tunes of Rs.5 lakh crore for his 15 industrialist friends, but in five years he could not waive loans of poor farmers,” he said.
Striking an emotional chord, Gandhi endorsed Congress party’s proposed NYAY Scheme stressing the literal meaning of the Hindi word, Nyay, which translates to justice in English, and relating it with the life of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
“Birsa Munda fought for Nyay and we have named our scheme Nyay because we want justice for the tribal population at any cost,” he said.
The Congress party’s much talked about agenda in this election’s manifesto, NYAY scheme, guarantees a minimum income of Rs.72,000 per annum to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families across India. The scheme, however, has received its share of criticism lately, with political parties and some experts calling it ‘impractical’. Gandhi, on Thursday, however, said, “We will credit Rs.72,000 directly in the bank accounts of five crore families. And, this process will not end in a year, it will continue until the family’s monthly income crosses the mark of Rs.12,000.”
The scheme, he added, will not only strengthen the economy, but also ensure welfare of the tribal youths and the poor of the country. “He (Modi) wants to give money to the rich, I want to give it to the poor. It is only a matter of priority,” said Gandhi as tagged the UPA government as “Aap Logon Ki Sarkar (People’s government).” The Government formed by the UPA at the centre will be the government of the common people and not of those ‘15 industrialists’, he said, adding that the Mahagathbandhan in Jharkhand will win since it was ‘people’s alliance.’
Counting the initiatives of the Congress party in favour of the poor and farmers, Gandhi said, “We brought the Land Acquisition Act to ensure that farmers and poor people get good value for their land. The BJP came to power and made changes in the Act only to favour its industrialist friends.”
Campaigning for Congress party’s candidate Kalicharan Munda, Gandhi also took a jibe at the Prime Minister’s initiative Mann Ki Baat. “Unlike Modiji, I prefer listening to the problems of people and not just address them,” he said. Khunti goes to polls in the fifth phase of 17th General Elections in Ranchi on May 6. The constituency is set to witness a head on contest between BJP’s candidate, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda and Mahagathbandhan’s candidate Kalicharan Munda.
On Thursday, Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) President Ajoy Kumar and former CM and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik chief Babulal Marandi shared the dais with Gandhi.