Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached tribal bastion Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan on World Tribal Day and sounded the party’s poll bugle by addressing a large gathering. He endorsed the social security schemes of Ashok Gehlot and called the Congress government of state "a government of poor and tribals."
Mangarh Dham is in the Dungarpur district of south Rajasthan and is a tribal-dominated area with 16 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in Dungarpur and nearby three districts of Udaipur, Banswara, and Pratapgarh so it was a perfect place to start party’s poll campaign on the World Tribal Day and in the backdrop of party’s attacking mode on violence against tribals in Manipur.
Rahul who came here straight from the Parliament touched the tribals on an emotional note and said that the tribals are the first owners of India. “This land, which we call India today, was the land of tribals. This was told to me by my grandmother Indira Gandhi," said Rahul.
Rahul attacks BJP over 'Vanvasi' remark
He accused BJP of insulting the tribals and Mother India by calling them Vanvasi. Rahul said "BJP calls you Vanvasi and by this, they mean that you are not the owner of the country, you are the people living in the jungle. They call you forest dwellers and hand over the forests to industrialists. They want to finish the forest slowly and you will be left nowhere."
Rahul said that tribals have every right to get prosperous, to dream big and fulfil them and no one can deprive them of this.
By endorsing the social security schemes of Ashok Gehlot's government, Gehlot said that these schemes show that ours is the government of the poor and tribals. "I am your Sipahi living in Delhi, but you can call me anytime to come to you and ask anything to our government," assured Rahul at the gathering.
Rahul slams PM Modi over Manipur violence
Regarding the violence in Manipur, Rahul Gandhi said that the Prime Minister wants Manipur to be on fire. "It has been three months and it seems that Manipur is not a part of the country at all. I went to the relief camp, and the leader of the opposition went but the PM did not. The PM didn't say a word about Manipur. Wherever these people go, they will spread hatred, violence and use wrong words about other people," alleged Rahul.
On the occasion, Rahul launched the free smartphone scheme for women and the free food scheme for the poor in the state while CM Gehlot announced many development plans for the area.
