Only loyal Cong workers who take on BJP, RSS to get Gujarat tickets: Rahul

Ahmedabad: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said only genuine party workers who have fought against the BJP and its ideological parent RSS will get tickets to contest the Assembly polls in Gujarat.

In an interaction with Congress workers aimed at galvanising them ahead of the polls due later this year, he assailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development model, which he claimed had failed in Gujarat.

He attacked the NDA government over a host of issues–from demonetisation to unemployment–as he interacted with party workers on the Sabarmati riverfront.

"Tickets will be distributed soon and only to genuine party workers who have fought against the BJP and RSS. Those who parachuted into the party recently would not be given tickets," he said, responding to a question by party worker Satish Pandya, who claimed Congress gave tickets to only those with money and muscle power. At the interaction called 'Samvad', Gandhi raised various issues like demonetisation, goods and services tax (GST), unemployment, alleged plight of farmers, and "poor" healthcare and eduction, to target Modi and the BJP.

He said all these will ensure the defeat of the BJP in Gujarat.

"The BJP and Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) are scared of the outcome of the Gujarat assembly polls. You cannot hide the truth for long," Gandhi said, asserting the Congress, which has been out of power in the state for over two decades, will win the election.

Taking about Modi's development plank, he said the "hollowness" of the BJP's "Gujarat model of development" stood exposed. "This model did not help anyone, be it youth, farmers, small businessmen or shopkeepers. Only select 5-10 persons benefited from it," he said.