SWACHH BHARAT MEANS POOR HAVE TO TAKE UP BROOMS: RAHUL

BENGALURU: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a dig at the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has forced the poor to “take up brooms and clean the country” while allowing billionaire Nirav Modi to flee abroad.

At a rally in Chitradurga district in election-bound Karnataka, Gandhi said: “There are three schemes for the poor. Swachh Bharat, which means the poor have to take up brooms and clean the country. Second is demonetisation, which means stand (in queue) and deposit money in banks, and go to airports and watch Nirav Modi’s plane take-off. Third is the Gabbar Singh Tax (referring to the Goods and Services Tax), which means if you are a small businessman, you have to bend your head in front of Gabbar Singh.”

He also said that the information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani’s guidelines on cancelling journalists’ accreditation in the name of “fake news”, which has since been withdrawn, shows the government’s intention to “shut mouths” of those who speak against it.

Addressing traders in Davanagere town, he said the Centre was highly influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ruling party’s ideological mentor, and the government’s policies reflected the views of the RSS. Gandhi said if voted to power, the Congress would free the country’s institutions of RSS control. “In every single minister’s office, there is an RSS man sitting and giving orders. So what can you expect... nothing but disrespecting the institutions,” he said.

Reacting to the attacks, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka spokesperson S Prakash said it was unfortunate that Gandhi had not learnt anything despite having being in politics for a while. “Swachh Bharat was an attempt to make India hygienic and clean,” he said. Prakash also said that demonetisation, on the other hand, did not affect the poor “very adversely”.