Deccan Chronicle

Rahul sounds poll bugle in Uttarakhan­d

- ASHHAR KHAN | DC NEW DELHI, DEC. 16

RAHUL SLAMS the Centre for failing to acknowledg­e late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at a government event on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War anniversar­y in New Delhi.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday sounded the poll bugle in Uttarakhan­d. Addressing a rally in Dehradun, he felicitate­d war veterans and said like many families in the state, his family too made sacrifices for the country. “The way thousands of families in Uttarakhan­d lose their kin battling for the country’s honour… my family too has made sacrifices. This is my relationsh­ip with Uttarakhan­d,” he said.

He paid tribute to the martyrs and veterans of the 1971 war during a rally at Parade Ground in Dehradun on the 50th anniversar­y of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 War.

He attacked the Centre for failing to acknowledg­e late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at a government event on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War anniversar­y in New Delhi.

Hitting out, he said: “Today, a function was held in Delhi regarding the Bangladesh war. There was no mention of Indira Gandhi in that function. The woman who took 32 bullets for this country… her name was not there in the invitation because this government is afraid of the truth.”

He added: “Pakistan bowed its head within 13 days in 1971. Generally, a war is fought for six months or for one to two years. America took 20 years in Afghanista­n but India made Pakistan lose in 13 days only as India was united and was standing as one.”

The posters of the Congress rally also had photograph­s of late Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat, describing him as a “son of the soil” of the state.

Gandhi also launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him an “implemente­r” of the “tools of capitalist­s” in a reference to demonetisa­tion and GST.

“Take it from me, the youth in this country won’t get jobs until the BJP government in Delhi goes,” he said.

The elections to the Uttarakhan­d Assembly are due early next year.

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PTI ?? Congress MP Rahul Gandhi felicitate­s a war veteran during Congress Vijay Samman Rally, at Parade Ground in Dehradun on Thursday.
— PTI Congress MP Rahul Gandhi felicitate­s a war veteran during Congress Vijay Samman Rally, at Parade Ground in Dehradun on Thursday.

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