KISANGANJ (Bihar), Apr 16: Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi today tore into Narendra Modi’s ‘toffee model’ development of Gujarat saying it was nothing but loot of public money.
“Gujarat model of development can be called toffee model or ‘gubbara’ (ballon) model, which is nothing but loot of public money to benefit big people like Tata and Adani,” Gandhi told an election rally in minority-dominated Kisanganj.
In his 20-minute-long speech, Gandhi cited many instances to ‘reveal the truth’ of the Gujarat model of development and blamed BJP for selling the idea across the country with the aim to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister.
Elaborating his charge of ‘toffee model’ development by Modi, the Congress Vice-President said he had given away 45,000 acres belonging to poor farmers and the size of Bihar’s Purnea district to a single person (Adani) at a rate of Re one per sq metre ‘which is equivalent to the price of a toffee’.
He gave away the entire stretch of land at a paltry sum of Rs 300 crore, Gandhi claimed adding prized land equivalent to the size of Mumbai and near the coast was given away to the same person for only Rs 30 crore.
Modi had also provided Rs 10,000 crore loan to Tata Motors for its Nano car project at 0.1 per cent interest, while the common man get loan from banks at 12 per cent interest.
“For every Nano car, the Gujarat government is providing Rs 40,000 assistance,” Gandhi said.
“The total budget of the Gujarat government on education, health and other welfare is less than Rs 10,000 crore,” he asserted.
Gandhi said contrary to the picture of Gujarat painted by BJP a whopping 40 lakh people of that state were below the poverty line and earned less than Rs 11 per day.
“This means a person earning Rs 12 a day is considered rich in Gujarat,” he said adding about 40 per cent of Gujarat’s population does not have the facility of potable water.
“Hindustan ko ullu banana bandh karo,” (stop fooling the people of the country), he said adding one model of development cannot be applicable everywhere.
“Bihar me Bihar model chalega (Bihar model of development will function in Bihar),” he said amidst applause from the audience.
“He claims to know everything. According to him nobody else contributed in the development of Gujarat except him and now he will say the same about the entire country,” Gandhi said ridiculing the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate.
This was second election meeting of Rahul Gandhi in Bihar. He had addressed the first one at Aurangabad on April 1.
Today’s rally was in support of Congress candidate Maulana Asrarul Haque, who is seeking re-election from Kisanganj.
The Congress Vice-President said the ongoing Parliamentary election was not a clash between two individuals but a fight between two ideologies.
“The first ideology is that of Congress which intends to take everybody Hindu or Muslim, backward caste or forward caste and rich or poor together on the path of development.
“The second is of BJP which aims at pitching Hindus against Muslims and instigating the people of Maharashtra to beat the people of Bihar going there and targetting women in Karnataka,” he said.
Continuing his criticism of BJP, Gandhi said “You will notice no anger or talking ill of anybody in our speeches whereas there are people in BJP full of anger and ‘ahankar’ (pride),” he said.
For BJP the poll was not for changing the lot of the farmers, labourers and the poor but ‘centered on only one objective of making one person (Narendra Modi) prime minister’, he said.
On Congress’ future programmes, Gandhi said after interacting with a cross-sections of poor people including coolies, cab drivers, rickshaw pullers, Muslims, youths and others the party has decided implement the right to health for the poor, right to roof and pension to all elders on a priority basis in the next five years.
The right to health for poor would open the hospitals’ doors to them and provide them with medicines free of cost, while the right to roof would ensure concrete roof in the house of each poor person.
The Congress Vice-President said the party intended to uplift 70 crore people who are slightly above BPL category to the middle class in the next five years.
“This will be achieved by opening doors of standard colleges and universities for them (poor),” he said.
The work on industrial corridor across the country had been started by Japan government and would facilitate employment for millions of youths.
“We need to have the tag of made in India or made in Bihar on the back of our T-shirts, which unfortunately at present carry the tag of made in China,” he said. (PTI)
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