We won’t give Goa a dictator: Rahul Gandhi

RAHUL GANDHI said Monday that if it forms the government in Goa, the Congress won’t give the state a dictator.

“Hum aapko dictator nahi denge,” Rahul said at the rally in Mapusa. “Aaj Hindustan mein ek vyakti ka hi raaj hain. Aur aapka jo state hain, woh Goa se nahi chalta, remote control se chalta hain — Dilli se chalta hain. Reality hain (We will not give you a dictator. The country today runs on the diktat of one person. Your state, Goa, is run with a remote control from Delhi. That’s the reality.)”

In his 18-minute speech, Rahul promised equal job opportunities to all and schemes to protect the state’s culture and indigenous identity. “We are putting forward fresh faces - 60 per cent of our candidates are new, young and true representatives of the state,” he said. “We are starting on a clean slate - as you call it, with clean chit given to all - (so) give them a chance.”

While Rahul took a dig at the BJP’S style of functioning, and “lies” woven by Prime Minister Modi, not once was AAP mentioned.

Recalling an anecdote, Rahul said Priyanka Gandhi had once wondered aloud why BJP ministers never smile. “She told me, ‘They talk nicely, but you get the sense that they are angry with the world’. I think the reason is, they think they know everything,” the Congress leader said. “In Parliament, too, if you ask them questions, they say you will not understand this .... They think they know everything. The world, though, moves on; and when they realise the reality doesn’t match with their theories, they get angry. They get ruffled.” Then came the poll pitch: “Will you vote for someone like them? There is a huge difference in the way they are moulded, (the way) they think, and the way you Goans think.”

If Modi’s address at Saturday’s rally focussed on tourism as the poll pitch, Rahul chose to turn it around two days later. He said, “They (tourists) don’t come to see your beaches, or the scenery. They come to know the spirit of the state - the people, the way you live, the hearty manner in which you involve in your everyday life. They come for happiness. Let no one take that away from you, or tell you anything else.”

About Modi, he said, “Modiji talks a lot, but he does not listen. He goes around saying Mann ki baat suno, but has he ever told a single individual, Mann ki baat sunaao?”

PTI Rahul on campaign in Mapusa.