Mumbai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Maharashtra Assembly Elections is an election of ideologies as this is a fight between two or three billionaires and the poor. The government works for billionaires like Adani who are trying to get lands worth a crore in Mumbai. He was countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai" slogan.
Gandhi said the Congress has always fought for the poor and the common people and an attempt is being made to break the backbone of small, medium and micro industries by handing over the Dharavi land to corporates. But Congress will never let that happen. "We will thwart the attempt," he said at a press conference in Bandra.
He said Modi's declaration is right as it means only he and Adani are the same which makes the latter safe. Dharavi land is owned by local people and lakhs are on the verge of displacement if the land gets handed over. To establish his claim, Gandhi fished out pictures of Modi, Adani and the Dharavi land from a locker.
"How did Adani get all the airports, ports, and now the Dharavi project? Because Adani and Modi have old relations. Adani will not get Dharavi without PM Modi's cooperation and is trying to grab Mumbai," Gandhi said.
He said the caste census has been the core issue on which Congress keeps asking questions to the government and the promises of a 50 per cent reservation limit, Rs 4,000 allowance for unemployed youth, Rs 3,000 for women, and free travel would be fulfilled once Congress comes to power.
He said five lakh jobs and investments worth Rs seven lakh crore have gone out of the state as eight large industrial projects have moved from Maharashtra to Gujarat. Adani has stolen the future of the youth of the state.
He appealed to the youth to pay attention to this and said, "Our government will take decisions in the interest of the people of the state. Everyone knows how ED and CBI are being misused, how Adani gets contracts, how much Modi cooperates in this".
He assured the Dharavi residents of developing their lands by giving importance to their interests and pointed out that floods and mangroves are important issues.
He was flanked at the press meet by Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, media department head Pawan Khera, Avinash Pandey, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Mumbai Congress president M P Varsha Gaikwad, and Arif Naseem Khan.
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