Setting the tone for the Congress campaign for the upcoming civic polls in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for their "politics of making false promises".
Addressing a convention of Congress workers here, Gandhi accused Modi and Kejriwal of running "individual-centric" governments and "causing losses" to the country and Delhi respectively through their governance.
Attacking Kejriwal, Gandhi dubbed him as the "king" who calls shots only in the AAP.
He promised that the "voices of the people of Delhi" will be heard in civic bodies when his Congress comes to power there. The civic boy polls are likely to be held next month.
Gandhi took on the two leaders over the issue of combating corruption and asked the Prime Minister to first end corruption in the three corporations being ruled by the BJP.
Targeting Modi over the recent killings of Indians and Indian-origin people in the US, the Congress vice president asked why the Prime Minister was silent on the issue.
Rahul alleged that Modi was "scared" to speak up to the superpower on the issue.
"Both Modi and Kejriwal engage in politics of making false promises. They have caused loss to the country and Delhi respectively (by their individual-centric governance). They have wasted the country's time," Gandhi said, as he listed poll promises Modi and Kejriwal made ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 Delhi assembly polls respectively.
Reiterating his recent "Ganga" barb against Modi, Gandhi said Modi had in the run up to the last general polls promised that he would clean Ganga, Varanasi, construct ring road, offer free internet, solar lights, build Bhojpuri film city and generate employment "if elected as PM".
"Banaras (Varansi) has made up its mind...Banaras has understood that Modi had lied to its people two-and-a-half years ago. No matter how many visits he makes to the city, the people of Banaras are going to defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in the assembly polls there. This is the truth," Gandhi said.
The Congress leader charged Modi with not keeping the "promise made to youngsters" on generating two crore jobs a year.
"Modi talked about giving jobs...When we asked about it in Parliament, a BJP minister said only one lakh jobs created last year, while this year not a single job has been created...One person cannot change the entire country," he said, taking a dig at Modi.
Similarly, Gandhi alleged Kejriwal thinks that he can "single-handedly" change Delhi.
"I want to ask what has Kejriwal government done for sanitation workers, street vendors? What has he done for contractual staff in the Delhi government? When slums were being bulldozed in Delhi, you saw me and (Delhi Congress chief Ajay) Maken there, and not Kejriwal," Gandhi said.
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Gandhi claimed an AAP strategist who had met him a few days ago told that the Delhi Chief Minister "cannot combat corruption, but taps anger among the people of Delhi over corruption".
"I asked an AAP corporator, who returned to the Congress, why he did not continue in the AAP. He told me that it is only one person who calls the shots in the AAP...Arvind Kejriwal is the king...Congress workers are here, you have to form the government of Delhi, not an individual's government," he said.
"Modi has 56-inch chest, right? So, tell me one thing, why he has not spoken even a single word? Because Narendra Modi does politics of lie. He hugs (former US President Barack) Obama. But when our people are being killed, India's Prime Minister doesn't utter even a single word. Because India's Prime Minister is scared," he said.
Gandhi said his party stood by the poor and the weak during the 15 years it was in power in the national capital, "unlike the Kejriwal government".
Dubbing Congress workers as "lions", Gandhi asked them to reach out to people telling them about the party's works.
He also assured Congress workers that it will give civic polls tickets to those functionaries who work hard for the party.
Nobody can exert "pressure from above" to get ticket and new people will be given opportunity to come forward, he said.
