JAIPUR, July 17:
Sharpening his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today vowed that his party will defeat the land bill if it comes up for passage in Parliament during the Monsoon session.
He also took at a dig at the Prime Minister, saying the people will reduce his “56-inch chest” to “5.6 inches” in six months while taking repeated jibes at the Vasundhara Raje Government in Rajasthan calling it a “Lalit Modi sarkar”.
The Congress Vice President’s remarks come at a time when the Government is planning to bring the contentious land bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning next week.
Addressing party workers here, Rahul vowed not to allow passage of the Land bill in Parliament even though Modi Government has thrice issued ordinances to this effect.
“First time such a Government has come which is helping the opposition. Whenever they get an opportunity, Government is helping the Congress. On farmers’ issue, they have issued an ordinance thrice. We will not allow the land bill to be passed in Parliament, you will see. Not a single inch of land will be given.
“This 56-inch chest will turn into 5.6 inches in six months. And who will turn this into 5.6 inches, it is the Congress party, people of the country, the farmers and the labourers, you will see,” Rahul said, taking a jibe at the Prime Minister’s remark of “56-inch chest” made at the time of the Lok Sabha campaign.
The Congress Vice President also compared the Raje Government with the British Government in the pre-Independence era when the “remote” of the Government was in London, an apparent reference to the beleaguered former IPL chief Lalit Modi who had earlier close links with Raje.
“The way that Government’s remote was in London, the same way the remote control of this Government is in London. He presses the button there and here she (Vasundhara Raje) jumps,” he alleged.
Accusing the Chief Minister of helping a “fugitive” who had amassed black money, he said, “She broke the Indian laws by helping a wanted fugitive, a corrupt man who made black money”.
“Here it is not a Vasundhara Government, but a Lalit Modi Government. Everyone in Rajasthan knows, this is not a BJP Government or a Vasundhara Government, it is Lalit Modi Government here,” he charged.
Rahul also accused the Prime Minister of making empty promises ahead of elections and now turning the other way by remaining silent on corruption.
Hitting out at the Prime Minister for talking of giving Rs 15 lakh to account holders by bringing in black money stashed abroad, the Congress Vice President said, “He (Lalit Modi) is sitting in London with lakhs of crores. Bring him back and remove his Government here and install a people’s Government instead.”
Taking a jibe at his promise of not doing corruption or allowing it, Rahul said, “Please fulfil that promise and bring Lalit Modi back and remove his Government in Rajasthan”. Rahul, who wrapped up his two-day visit to Rajasthan, where he also undertook a 10-km ‘padayatra’ and interacted with farmers, said, “In earlier times, those who ruled over India had given their powers to London. The same way, your Chief Minister has signed an authority in England and said I want to help an absconder but Indian people should not know.
“In her earlier term as Chief Minister, they did business together and Lalit Modi invested money in her son’s hotel, which I am told is a Government property,” Rahul charged. Citing the film ‘Lagaan’, he said, “The characters in the film got united against the British officers who had their remote control in London. Similarly, Raje Government’s remote control was in the hands of Lalit Modi in London.” The Congress leader also attacked the BJP Governments in various states by saying, “Here it is the Lalit Modi Government, in Madhya Pradesh it is a Vyapam Government, in Maharashtra it is a Munde Government and in Chhattisgarh it is a ‘dhaan’ Government. And the Prime Minister with a 56-inch chest is not uttering a single word.” (PTI)
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