Rahul Gandhi storms Mangaluru, goes all guns blazing against Modi-Shah, BJP

Mangaluru, Mar 20: Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday stormed the coastal city of Mangaluru as part of the Janaashirvad Yatra of the party in poll bound Karnataka, attacking holding a roadshow and addressing a huge rally where he made scathing attacks against the Bharatiya Janata Party, its supremo Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a huge crowd at Nehru Maidan in the heart of the city, Rahul alleged that the saffron party can do anything for the sake of power: from resorting to violence to purchasing of MLAs. It formed governments in Goa and North Eastern states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh by purchasing MLAs.

Likening the BJP to Kouravas in the Mahabharata, he said that the BJP craved for power and it was the voice of an organisation which controlled it.

The people knew which organisation controlled it. On the other hand, the Congress was the voice of people, he said.

Referring to the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France he alleged that the Modi government had caused over Rs. 40,000 crore loss to the exchequer as the purchase has been finalised at a higher price by the NDA government than the previous deal negotiated by the UPA government.

The UPA had negotiated it to Rs. 526 crore per plane. But the Modi government paid Rs. 1,670 crore instead, he said.

The Congress president said that the government was to purchase the fighter jets from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bengaluru. But the “Hindustan Ki Chowkidar” changed the contract and ensured that his friends got it. Where did Rs. 40,000 crore go? he asked.

Mr. Gandhi said that the Union Defence Minister lied to people by saying that the cost of purchase cannot be revealed as the deal with France was a secret pact. But the French president has denied it. Finally, it was revealed through the company which supplied it.

He said that the State was the land of Basavanna, Narayana Guru, Koti Chennaya and Rani Abbakka who showed the way to the world and not only to the country.

Mr. Gandhi said that the erstwhile Congress government in the Centre ensured that the banking services reached every village in the country.

Questioning the BJP for stating that the Union government was supplying rice for Anna Bhagya scheme of the Congress government, the Chief Siddaramaiah questioned why the BJP ruled states in the country did not have such a scheme.

He said the BJP did a U-turn in its stand over supporting Aadhaar. When it was in the Opposition it opposed it. But when it came to power in the Centre it has made it mandatory from “birth to death”.