‘Made in Tamil Nadu’ is my vision, says Rahul Gandhi
Talks about ‘connect’ with Tamil Nadu, says PM Modi wants to ‘remote control’ state
Kicking off his election campaign in Thoothukudi district on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he wanted his shirt, mobile phone and camera to be “Made in Tamil Nadu”, to compete with Chinese industries. Adding that the bank loan disbursement process should be made easy to help young entrepreneurs, Mr Gandhi said, “Employment generation is the major issue to be addressed in the country.”
Mr Gandhi warned the electorate to be cautious of the BJP, adding that PM Modi wants to rule Tamil Nadu from New Delhi, a plan in which the chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is hand in glove with Mr Modi.
He also charged that the PM is “scared” of China and took a swipe at him for being only "useful to two people." "Essentially the Chinese occupied certain strategic areas in our country. They first tested the idea in Doklam… and they noticed India did not react. And then they carried out the idea again in Ladakh and also I believe in Arunachal Pradesh," he said.
Tuticorin/Tirunelveli, Feb. 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over issues including the Sino-India standoff and sought to establish an emotional connect with the people of poll-bound Tamil Nadu, saying he wants to have a relationship with them marked only by respect and affection.
Launching his three-day Tamil Nadu tour ahead of the April 6 Assembly elections, he attacked Mr Modi, BJP and the RSS on a number of issues and charged the Prime Minister with seeking to “remote control” Tamil Nadu through chief minister K. Palaniswami. He also billed himself as a ‘honest’ man and therefore Modi “cannot control me” but was being targeted by him.
At public interactions and meetings at different locations in Tuticorin and Tirunelvei districts, during some of which he mingled with the public, Gandhi missed no chance to take a swipe at Modi and also hit out at the ‘corrupt’ ruling AIADMK.
Training his guns against Modi over the Sino-India border standoff, he charged the PM with being ‘scared’ of the eastern neighbour and took a swipe at him for being only “useful to two people.” “Essentially the Chinese occupied certain strategic areas in our country. They first tested the idea in Doklam.”
“They tested the idea to see how would India react and they noticed India did not react. And then they carried out the idea again in Ladakh and also I believe in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
Mr Gandhi said Mr Modi’s first reaction to the Chinese incursions was “that nobody has come into India.”
“That indicated to the Chinese that the Prime Minister of India is scared of them.. they understood it. And since then the Chinese have negotiated on that principle,” he said.
“They know that the Prime Minister of India cannot stand up to them. Mark my words, our land in Depsang, which is the most important land, is not going to come back to under this government.”
Giving such a message to the Chinese was “very dangerous to the future because the Chinese are not going to stop with Ladakh,” he alleged.