Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted the ruling Mizo National Front saying the regional party openly supports those who are attacking the idea of Mizoram. He blamed the Zoramthanga-led party of rampant unemployment and complete failure to crackdown on drugs. The Congress MP also said that MNF and ZPM were an instrument for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to enter Manipur which would undergo polls on November 7.
"The record of the MNF is in front of everybody to see - rampant unemployment, complete failure to crackdown on drugs, 250 young lives extinguished in five years, and at the same time, the MNF openly supports those who are attacking the idea of Mizoram," said the Wayanad MP.
"They have overseen a disaster in health care where they have failed to release the funds that belong to you," he added.
He asserted that voting for MNF or Zoram Peoples' Movement, is actually a vote for the BJP, adding: "These parties are perfectly happy to have a relationship with the BJP."
"The Congress party, ideologically, can never have a relationship with the BJP. It is impossible for us because the core of our DNA is ideologically opposed to the core of their DNA," he added.
He listed some of the works done by the Congress government in the state including operation of Lengpui Airport in 1995, opening of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in 2010, setting up of Mizoram State Cancer Institute and Mizoram Medical College, and new land use policy in 2011.
"I am not speaking empty words here. If you examine the states we govern, you can see that we are providing a vision for the future," he added.
Earlier in the day, he addressed a press conference where he promised that if elected to power, the Congress would provide an old age pension of Rs 2,000 per month, gas cylinder at Rs 750, and economic empowerment for entrepreneurs.