Rahul raises pitch in Gujarat, reaches out to opposition leaders
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday over the state of the economy and political bribery allegations as he tried to reach out to opposition leaders in pollbound Gujarat.
At a Gandhinagar rally, Gandhi repeatedly commended Patel quota protest leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani, two prominent anti-BJP figures whose support is crucial for the Congress to snatch power in the prime minister’s home state.
Gandhi, whose campaign received a boost with Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakor formally joining the Congress on Monday, also touched upon allegations levelled by a Patel leader that the BJP offered him ₹1 crore to join it.
“Hardik, Jignesh and Alpesh will not sit quiet now because their inner voice is not allowing them. No Gujarati can sit quietly now. And Modiji, you cannot buy this voice…even by the money of the whole world,” Gandhi said, amid confusion over whether he had met Patel before the rally.
His comments came a day after Narendra Patel from north Gujarat and Hardik’s former aide, quit the BJP and alleged he had been offered ₹1 crore. In a dramatic press conference, he waved around wads of notes that he claimed the BJP had given him –
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a charge the ruling party denied.
Gandhi also criticised the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and called the shock recall of high-value currency notes last November a personal whim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Goods and Services Tax (GST) has destroyed small shop owners and businessmen… it is a Gabbar Singh Tax,” he said. “What happened on November 8? Modiji came on television and said I don’t like ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes. So I have decided to spike them… and he attacked the whole country by one stroke.”
Gujarat, expected to see polls in December, has become a prestige fight for the BJP.
The party has ruled the state for two decades but is facing its toughest battle in years. The party is battling anti-incum-