 "India does not need 'chowkidar' who steals farmers' land: Rahul")
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took pot shots at BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narenda Modi, without naming him, on his home turf and said that country does not need a ‘chowkidar’ (guard) who steals land from poor and gives it to rich industrialists.
In a veiled attack, Gandhi also drew a comparison between the Gujarat chief minister and German dictator Adolf Hitler, saying both believe there was no need to listen to people. Gandhi also took on Modi over the Statue of Unity project , saying that BJP leader does not understand the ideology of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“It has now become a fashion to say that the country is run by one person,” Gandhi said, pointing to statements made by Modi in his various public addresses. “There is one person saying that make him a ‘chokidar’ and he will eliminate corruption from the country. India has seen many ‘chokidars’... Brititsh also did ‘chowkidari’ (gurding), we threw them out,” the Congress leader said.
Modi has been saying in his rallies that he will work like a ‘chowkidar’ of the nation’s treasury if BJP government came to power.
To draw comparison between Modi and Hitler, Gandhi gave analogy of two kinds of leaders. “There are two type of leaders— one who goes to people and believes that his strength lies in the people, just like Mahatma Gandhi. They know that knowledge and power lie with the people. While, the second kind is like Hitler, who believes that people have no knowledge or power and there was no need to hear them,” Gandhi said to big applaud from the crowd.
“He (Modi) too believes that people have no knowledge or power. He only tells people I will do this and do that, does nothing,” he added.
According to the scion of Gandhi family Congress leaders belong to the first category, while BJP leaders belonged to the second kind. On Sardar Patel, Gandhi said that it was the same BJP that has proposed to build statue of ‘Iron Man of India’, which had opposed naming of Ahmedabad airport after the great leader. He accused the BJP of not know the history of Sardar Patel and said that they need to first read some literature on him.
On Modi’s jibe during his speeches that it was time to eliminate Congress from the country, Gandhi said, “They want to eliminate Congress party. Does it not occur to them that this party was founded by Gandhiji and Sardar Patel. They want to eliminate organisation for which the two leaders sacrificed their lives. And then they want to build Sardar’s statue.”
Accusing BJP of taking credit for programmes initiated by Congress, Gandhi said in a sarcastic tone that the leaders of the Opposition party will claim after a decade that they had also brought MNREGA and Right to Food, the flagship programmes of Congress-led UPA. Seeking to draw a parallel between BJP’s India Shining Campaign in 2004 Lok Sabha polls and its focus on Gujarat’s development under Modi, Gandhi said it is being publicised in the whole country that Gujarat shines but its sheen is limited to few industrialists and the poor have not benefited from it.
In a veiled attack, Gandhi also drew a comparison between the Gujarat chief minister and German dictator Adolf Hitler, saying both believe there was no need to listen to people. Gandhi also took on Modi over the Statue of Unity project , saying that BJP leader does not understand the ideology of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“It has now become a fashion to say that the country is run by one person,” Gandhi said, pointing to statements made by Modi in his various public addresses. “There is one person saying that make him a ‘chokidar’ and he will eliminate corruption from the country. India has seen many ‘chokidars’... Brititsh also did ‘chowkidari’ (gurding), we threw them out,” the Congress leader said.
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“See what kind of ‘chowkidari’ is being done in Gujarat. Millions of acres of land is being snatched from poor farmers and given to rich industrialists. If farmers question it they are told to shut up. Is taking away land of poor farmers ‘chowkidari’? This is theft and not ‘chokidari’. India does not need ‘chowkidars’ to protect its people,” Gandhi hit at Modi government in the state. He said that people of the country need their rights and not ‘chokidars’, and this is what Congress intends to give. “We want to make people guards of their own houses and government,” Gandhi added.
Modi has been saying in his rallies that he will work like a ‘chowkidar’ of the nation’s treasury if BJP government came to power.
To draw comparison between Modi and Hitler, Gandhi gave analogy of two kinds of leaders. “There are two type of leaders— one who goes to people and believes that his strength lies in the people, just like Mahatma Gandhi. They know that knowledge and power lie with the people. While, the second kind is like Hitler, who believes that people have no knowledge or power and there was no need to hear them,” Gandhi said to big applaud from the crowd.
“He (Modi) too believes that people have no knowledge or power. He only tells people I will do this and do that, does nothing,” he added.
According to the scion of Gandhi family Congress leaders belong to the first category, while BJP leaders belonged to the second kind. On Sardar Patel, Gandhi said that it was the same BJP that has proposed to build statue of ‘Iron Man of India’, which had opposed naming of Ahmedabad airport after the great leader. He accused the BJP of not know the history of Sardar Patel and said that they need to first read some literature on him.
On Modi’s jibe during his speeches that it was time to eliminate Congress from the country, Gandhi said, “They want to eliminate Congress party. Does it not occur to them that this party was founded by Gandhiji and Sardar Patel. They want to eliminate organisation for which the two leaders sacrificed their lives. And then they want to build Sardar’s statue.”
Accusing BJP of taking credit for programmes initiated by Congress, Gandhi said in a sarcastic tone that the leaders of the Opposition party will claim after a decade that they had also brought MNREGA and Right to Food, the flagship programmes of Congress-led UPA. Seeking to draw a parallel between BJP’s India Shining Campaign in 2004 Lok Sabha polls and its focus on Gujarat’s development under Modi, Gandhi said it is being publicised in the whole country that Gujarat shines but its sheen is limited to few industrialists and the poor have not benefited from it.