New Delhi: Amid a “freebies vs social welfare” debate going on in the country, Rahul Gandhi is likely to promise loan waivers, free power and an MSP law to woo the farmers besides better roads, schools, hospitals and jobs to the voters of poll-bound Gujarat.
Rahul, who will address a massive rally in Ahmedabad on September 5, is likely to promise to the farmers of the state that if the Congress is voted to power, the party will waive off their loans up to Rs 3 lakh, provide free electricity to the farmers for around 10 hours and pass a state law guaranteeing the minimum support price for their crops.
For the other voters, the former Congress chief is likely to promise better social infrastructure like roads, schools, colleges, hospitals, and jobs for the youth, said party leaders. “Rahulji may make some announcements related to the farmers, electricity, schools and hospitals,” AICC Secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep told this channel.
The Congress, which has been out of power for 27 years, is going to the Gujarat assembly polls with a key message to the voters. “Our slogan is, change the government, change the state,” said Sandeep. The theme banks on the creation of social infrastructure during the previous Congress governments and highlights that no such development has taken place during the 27 years of BJP rule.
While Rahul is likely to list a few key promises, the state unit has started working on a central manifesto, which will detail the list of things the Congress will do, if elected to power, the grand old party is also preparing local manifestos for all the 182 assembly constituencies.
“Assembly-wise meetings for separate manifestos are going on. We are taking feedback from the people on what their issues are and what they expect from the Congress,” said Sandeep. Party insiders said plans are to launch the detailed main poll manifesto before September 15. Party veteran and former AICC general secretary Deepak Babaria has been tasked to draft the main manifesto, which will be vetted by top AICC and state leaders.
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“There are no good roads, proper educational facilities, healthcare facilities and drinking water for the people of Gujarat. There are around 40 lakh unemployed persons in the state. The state is lagging behind in all these areas,” said Sandeep.
“The voters want a change and we have a very good chance to stage a comeback. We are asking the voters to give us a chance so that we can bring good governance to the state and expose the much-touted Gujarat model of the BJP,” he said. Besides the social infrastructure issues, another key focus of Rahul’s speech is likely to be the prevailing liquor and drugs rackets in Gujarat, said party insiders.
The former Congress chief has been flagging the recovery of massive quantities of drugs worth thousands of crores over the past year from a particular port in Gujarat, saying why such seizures were never probed. Taking a cue from him, the state unit has launched an assembly-wise campaign against illegal liquor trade and plans to rake up the drugs issue as well.
“Illegal liquor kills several poor innocent persons every year. The drugs are spoiling our future generation besides denting the economy. We want these two issues to be tackled immediately,” former Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda told this channel. Rahul’s Ahmedabad rally on September 5 is actually a state-wide conclave of party workers, where the former Congress chief is expected to reiterate his message of unity.
Over the past months, the Gujarat Congress faced charges of infighting which was allegedly responsible for the exit of working president Hardik Patel and MLA Ashwin Kotwal, who later joined the BJP. “There is no infighting in the Congress. All the senior leaders have taken up responsibility for the various districts on their own and are working hard on the ground to ensure a party win,” said Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor.
The Congress leaders claimed that, in fact, the BJP was suffering from infighting and was merely projecting an image that it was confident of a win. “Recently the PWD minister was changed which showed all is not well in the BJP. Before that, they also changed the entire state cabinet including the chief minister. This was unheard of. They fear the huge anti-incumbency,” said Chavda.
“Rajulji will motivate the workers to be united and fight the divisive agenda of the BJP,” said Sandeep, saying Rahul’s September 5 rally is significant as it would come just two days before he would lead the nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra to be launched on September 7 at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
Before the rally at Ahmedabad, Rahul may visit Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram and pray there, said party insiders, noting that the nationwide yatra too would be preceded by a prayer meeting to invoke the legacy of the freedom struggle icon.
