“Now medicines will be expensive…. because he had to make the US companies happy. But he forgot our poor diabetic and cancer patients here”—Rahul Gandhi Congress Vice President
Firozpur Jhirka/Rewari (Haryana) : Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government was catering only to rich businessmen and questioned his handling of China and Pakistan, PTI reports.
Rahul accused Modi of not being able to rein in price rise or bring back black money as promised by him. Gandhi said Modi was trying to “weaken” UPA’s pet pro-poor scheme the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act and “making medicines expensive to beneift some US companies.”
“He (Modi) used to say if I become the Prime Minister, I will teach a lesson to China and Pakistan but what happened? After he became the PM, Chinese President Xi Jinping came here and it was for the first time when the President of a country visited India, his Army also entered our territory. This happened when the President of that country was enjoying a swing ride with Modi,” he said at rallies for the October 15 Haryana Assembly polls.
On the shelling by Pakistan, Rahul said, “Our people are being killed. Now after six days, they say everything will be fine. But what about those who have been killed, injured….?”
Addressing gatherings largerly of farmers, he asked them whether prices had come down. “Modi had said he will bring down prices within 100 days. Did it happen?” Accusing the Modi government of working for “big businessmen,” he alleged Modi lifted control on drug prices at the behest of some US companies which had led to cancer medicines costing over Rs 1 lakh instead of Rs 8,000 earlier.
“Modiji went to the US. A number of big industrialists came to him before the visit….Now medicines will be expensive….because he had to make the US companies happy. But he forgot our poor diabetic and cancer patients here,” he said.
Seeking to project a contrast in NDA and UPA’s vision for the poor, Gandhi said, “The government wants that India progresses but only the rich benefit. There is no place in their India for the poor and the farmers while we want all of you, the poor, the weak, and the farmers to be empowered.”
The Congress leader alleged that when Om Prakash Chautala-led government was in power in alliance with BJP in the state, “land of farmers was snatched and industrialists were subject to extortion.”
“We fought for the rights of the farmers and the weaker sections in Bhatta Parsaul, in Niyamgiri and promised that the land of farmers won’t be allowed to be snatched. They were opposing but we remained firm and passed the land acquisition bill. Before that, the land bill was passed in Haryana. Farmers were given four times more compensation.”
Modi’s charge that Congress did nothing in the past 60 years is an insult to the farmers and labourers who have toiled hard all these years to help the country progress, he said, adding, “They gave the slogan of ‘Acche Din’ and you saw what happened.”
Rahul also coined a new slogan for Haryana, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Pahalwan”, in a reference to a number of world class wrestlers the state has produced of late.
