Gujarat government is run by remote control from Delhi, says Rahul Gandhi
The Congress Vice President made a pitch to win the support of the Patidar community.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party-run government in Gujarat and said that the state administration was controlled by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre.
“These days, Gujarat’s government is run by a remote control,” Gandhi said on the second day of his election campaign in the state, The Indian Express reported. The Congress leader began his campaign by attacking the National Democratic Alliance government on demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax.
Gandhi’s roadshow is covering areas with a significant Patidar population. The community has been a major vote base for the BJP in Gujarat. He made a pitch to win their support for the Congress. “The Modi government hit Patidars with bullets, but Congress wishes to carry everyone ahead with love and feelings of fraternity,” he said.
In fact, Hardik Patel, the 24-year-old face of the Gujarat Patidar agitation that began in 2015 to demand reservations for the community in educational institutions and government jobs, welcomed Gandhi when he arrived in the state on Monday.
On the second day of his visit to Gujarat, Gandhi will tour Assembly seats across the Jamnagar, Rajkot and Morbi districts. He is scheduled to meet traders and businessmen in Rajkot, hold meetings with party workers and address a kisan sabha.
Meanwhile, the BJP responded to Gandhi’s attacks by calling his Gujarat visit “dramatic and laughable”. The campaign will boomerang on the Congress, state BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said, according to NDTV. “The Congress has lost elections wherever Rahul Gandhi had campaigned for the party. Under his leadership that party has lost 28 elections.”