 "We must pressure Kerala govt to help Wayanad landslides victims: Rahul")
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by accusing him of being "biased" towards industrialist Gautam Adani and of discriminating against Wayanad landslides victims by not providing them the due support.
Rahul hit out at Modi at a joint public meeting at Mukkam here with his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi who is visiting the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency for the first time after her huge maiden electoral victory from there.
The LoP in the Lok Sabha alleged that Modi was treating Adani differently from the people of India, despite his indictment in the US, even though the Constitution says everyone should be treated equally.
"PM Modi says it does not matter if Adani has been indicted in the US and called a criminal there, in India we will not indict him," Rahul claimed.
He further accused Modi of discriminating against the people of Wayanad, alleging that he was not willing to provide them the support which they were due.
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"This is the atmosphere in which we are operating. It is the feelings that people have toward us that gives us confidence and protects us," he said.
Rahul, after paying tribute to the victims of the landslides, said his party and the UDF are standing with the people who lost family members, property and suffered in the tragedy.
"Unfortunately, we are not in government and therefore, we cannot do what a government can do. So, I told my sister and (AICC general secretary) K C Venugopal that every member of the Congress and the UDF should put pressure on the government of Kerala to help the victims of the landslides," he said.
He said his sister's win from the Wayanad LS seat indicates that the people have placed their faith and trust in them to represent the hill constituency in the Parliament.
He also expressed confidence that "we (Congress-led opposition) will defeat the ideology of the BJP" which behaves arrogantly and allegedly spreads hate and divisiveness.
"The fight is to protect the Constitution which says everyone should be treated equally," Rahul said.
During his speech he also advised his sister that in whatever decision she takes, "the guide should be the people of Wayanad" as true knowledge always resides with the public.
"I am sure she already knows all this. I am sure she is going to go to all of you and hear your problems and understand what is making you happy or afraid," he said, and added that while Priyanka was the official MP of Wayanad, he was their unofficial MP.
"So, I am always there for you. It was an honour for me to be your representative in Parliament," he further said.
Priyanka had scored her maiden electoral victory by winning the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll with a huge margin of 4,10,931 votes, which is bigger than the lead her brother Rahul secured when he won from the constituency during the Lok Sabha general elections held early this year.