Congress MP Rahul Gandhi kicked off his election campaign in Gujarat on Monday, November 21. He began his campaign with a public rally in Surat.
This comes in the middle of the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The rally is expected to be a big boost for the party’s supporters ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls next month. Rahul Gandhi had kept himself away from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly poll earlier this month.
Speaking at the rally, Rahul Gandhi said at present farmers are in a pathetic state and youths are unemployed because of the Centre's flawed policies. Parents of youngsters spend thousands but they are forced to work as labourers. Hitting out at the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP was helping industrialists usurp lands that belong to the tribal communities. "The BJP calls adivasis, vanvasis. Adivasi means the first resident. This is your country. But right now, your lands are being handed over to industrialists," he sought to tell the tribal community in Surat. "They want you to live in jungles that belong to their industrialist friends. Eventually, you will be driven out of the forests as well," Rahul Gandhi said.
"We brought in bills and legislations to give back your land and employment rights. But the BJP did not enforce the law. They just want to snatch your lands," he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will campaign for the Gujarat elections on November 26-27.
PM MODI HOLDS BACK-TO-BACK RALLIES
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi is holding back-to-back rallies in Gujarat. He will address three rallies in Surendranagar, Jambusar, and Navsari on Monday. On Sunday he addressed four rallies in the Saurashtra region.
Voting for election to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will take place in two phases on December 1 and 5 and the votes will be counted on December 10 along with those of Himachal Pradesh polls.