BIKANER: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will on Wednesday address a 'Maha Sankalp' rally at the Medical College Ground in poll-bound Rajasthan's Bikaner.
Rahul Gandhi will arrive at the Nal airport in Bikaner at 2 PM and then he will start his tour of Bikaner division from the Guru Jambheshwar Dham in Mukam.
According to Congress leader Dr BD Kalla, the party chief will also participate in a roadshow from the Nal airport to the Medical College Ground.
It may be recalled that the Congress party had faced a massive drubbing in the Bikaner division in the last assembly elections in the state.
The party won only three seats out of the 23 assembly seats of Bikaner division.
In Bikaner district, the party was restricted to only two seats out of the seven assembly seats.
In Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts, the Congress had lost all the 11 assembly seats.
In the Churu division, the party could retain its fort in Sardarshahar.
A combative Congress chief had on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging he gave "brooms to the poor" in the name of the 'Swachh Bharat' Mission while allowing his industrialist "friends to clean money from the banks".
The Congress chief also levelled a slew of allegations at the BJP-led Centre claiming it failed to provide relief to debt-saddled farmers while wreaking havoc on the economy with his demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) moves.
He accused the PM of insulting the people by belittling what the country had achieved in the last 70 years.
The Congress president began a roadshow from eastern Rajasthan's Dholpur district, considered the home turf of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, aiming to boost his party's prospects in the assembly elections slated for December 7.
Beginning the roadshow in Mania town, which shares border with Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, he levelled allegations against the government on a range of issues ranging from the Rafale deal, law and order, and even the attack on people from other states in Gujarat .
Rahul said it was not a party or a person but the people who by the dint of their hard work made India stand up after Independence.
"They were your parents and grandparents who put in efforts to make India stand but Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that nothing was done in the last 70 years. He says everything happened only after he came to power. How arrogant this person is," Rahul charged at a public meeting in Bayana town of Bharatpur during his 150-km long roadshow.
The Congress chief, in his public meetings during the roadshow, also said while Modi gave "brooms to the poor and asked them to clean India under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and at the same time, he asked top 15-20 industrialists to clean money from banks".
Attacking the Centre's economic and agricultural polices, he said, "Not a single rupee of farmers' loans was waived by the Modi government" and the Make In India campaign had "failed" with even phones and T-shirts being outsourced from China.
The Congress wants phones to be made in India with the tag of 'Made in Dholpur,' he said.
Gandhi said the prime minister during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls had said he wanted to be a 'chowkidar' but never clarified for whom.
In Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Modi benefitted 15-20 top industrialists of the country instead of the farmers.
The Congress president reiterated his allegation on the Rafale deal that the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited was ignored and an "industrialist friend" benefitted from the deal which he claimed was finalised at higher prices compared to rates decided by the former UPA government.
He also alleged that people like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya had benefitted under the present dispensation.
The Congress chief claimed that Vijay Mallya had alleged he had met Union minister Arun Jaitley before leaving the country. Significantly, Jaitley has rubbished any charges of impropriety.
He claimed the former UPA government waived off farmers' loans worth Rs 70,000 crore but even as bad debt worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore were written off by the present government, not even Rs 1 of farmers was waived.
I went to the PMO only once and that too to raise farmers' issues but the PM remained silent and did not utter a single word, he claimed.
Gandhi also exuded confidence that the Congress would win the assembly elections in Rajasthan.
He said the Congress government in the state will work as per people's 'Mann ki Baat'. Rahul also urged people to form a Congress government at the Centre which would work for the poor, farmers and youths.
He said people should try making RSS and BJP understand that there is no benefit in "dividing" the country.
