Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath temple on Sunday. After landing at the Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, Gandhi arrived there in a private helicopter and was welcomed by temple priests and Congress workers.
This happened while Mr. Gandhi is contesting five assembly elections and addressing an election rally in Chhattisgarh. He had earlier also visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Rahul Gandhi campaigns in Chhattisgarh
On Saturday, Mr. Gandhi visited Chhattisgarh for an election rally. He targeted the BJP-led government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Congress’s demand for a caste census in the country. He said if the party returned to power in the state, farmers in Chhattisgarh would get more benefits.
The Congress leader alleged that the BJP government has not fulfilled its promises and accused it of working in the interests of industrialists. He alleged that the BJP was using “vanvasi” instead of “adivasi” for the tribal population living in forested areas.
“‘Adivasi’ is a revolutionary word. ‘Adivasi’ means the first owner of the land. The BJP is not using the word because it knows that if they use the word, they will have to give you back the jungle, the water and the land,” he said.
“They don’t want to believe it and have come up with a new word ‘Vanvasi’ – those who live in the jungle. This word is an insult to ‘Adivasi’. The Congress party will never accept this word,” he said. he added.
He said the Congress government in Chhattisgarh has provided Rs 23 crore to farmers under the Kisan Nyay Yojana. “We are giving workers Rs 7,000 which will be increased to Rs 10,000 after surveys. We are giving money to farmers and labourers,” he said.
Gandhi also released a video of an interaction with paddy farmers and farm laborers in a village in Chhattisgarh. Gandhi said his party would guarantee that farmers in Chhattisgarh would again be given loan waivers, 20 cents of paddy land would be acquired per acre and the wages of farm laborers would be increased from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 a year if he returned to power in the country State.
Helping some cultivators in a village near Raipur harvest rice last month, he said the pro-farmer “model” of his party’s government in Chhattisgarh would be replicated across India. Gandhi was accompanied by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Deputy CM TS Singh Deo.
Gandhi posted a video of his interaction with the farmers on his YouTube page: “A few days ago I had the opportunity to go to Kathiya village in Chhattisgarh and interact with the farmers and help them in the fields – I experienced rice harvesting.”
