In a sharp riposte at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'Satyamev Jayate' tweet after Smriti Irani's fiery speech in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi today asked him to hear the version of mother of Rohith Vemula, the dalit scholar who committed suicide.
"Satyameva Jayate! Modiji do hear these words of Rohith Vemula's mother", Gandhi said on micro-blogging site Twitter.
The brief tweet was in reponse to Prime Minister's tweet 'Satyamev Jayate' soon after the HRD Minister's speech on the JNU row and the Rohith Vemula issue on Wednesday.
"My son died of torture. How many more deaths will it take for the government to deliver justice?", an angry Radhika, mother of Rohith, had said in a counter-attack on Irani.
Rahul's tweet came on a day when the Congress announced that it would bring a privilege motion against Irani in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the Rohith Vemula issue.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul
asked how could he stand with the Akali Dal when he always talks about eliminating corruption.
"Modi says that he is fighting against corruption, you tell me when he talks about corruption and when he comes here and stands with the Akali Dal, how can he talk about corruption..," he said.
Gandhi held his first rally in the Majha heartland here and claimed that Punjab has fallen behind other states as the ruling Akalis "plundered" it to serve their own purposes.
"Punjab meets the nation's food needs... With Punjab the nation moves forward...," he said and accused the Akalis of looting the state and extending benefits to their own people.
"They did not give anything to the common people, but only extended benefits to their own people," Gandhi alleged.
Blaming the "lopsided" policies of the ruling SAD for "exodus" of the industries to other states, he said, "They (SAD) have destroyed the industry, they ruined Punjab's future."
Raking up the drug issue, he said that the Akalis mocked at him when a few years back he had said that 70 per cent youth of the state have fallen prey to this menace.
A few years later, now the whole state is saying the problem has grown, Gandhi claimed.
"We will fight against 'chhitta', drugs. We will frame a tough law against drugs. We will take strict steps against this menace. We will frame such a law that anyone who thinks about drugs, they will shiver and feel scared," he said.
Hitting out at AAP, which is also eyeing to wrest power in the state, Gandhi accused it of having failed to deliver on its promises made to the people of Delhi.
On the water issue, AAP says one thing in Delhi, another thing in Haryana and something else in Punjab, he claimed.
Appealing people to vote for Congress, he said, "We have not come here to make hollow promises" and added his party delivers on what it says.
Punjab Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia is seeking re-election for the third time from Majitha constituency. Congress has fielded Sukhjinder Raj Singh against him while AAP's candidate is Himmat Singh Shergill from this high-profile seat.
