A day after delivering his pro-Dalit speech in the capital, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday kick started his political campaign from Aligarh targeting both the Uttar Pradesh government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Muzaffarnagar riots and said politicians engineer riots to win polls.
‘Both Hindus and Muslims of Muzaffarnagar told me there is no enmity between people but politicians divide them. People are made to fight for political gains. Politicians never die in riots, it is the poor who face the brunt. If Uttar Pradesh is going behind, it is because people are divided here. Hindus and Muslims are made to fight each other. One caste is made to fight another. The common people don’t want to fight. There are such political forces who feel if there is no fight, they will not win. That’s why they want Hindus and Muslims to fight,’ said Gandhi at a rally in Aligarh.
The violence in Muzaffarnagar left some 50 people dead and displaced over 40,000. Exhorting people to unite, Gandhi said, ‘Till you unite, Uttar Pradesh cannot move forward. The Congress will help you do this and fight for you and your rights.’ On the performance of Akhilesh Yadav government, Gandhi asked the people gathered at the rally about the projects undertaken in the region. ‘How is the UP government working? Are the laptops working? Are the people getting employement? Big promises had been made,’ he said.
He said the state government has distributed computers but there is no electricity. ‘Congress runs the government of farmers. UP has government of computers. Computers, however, don’t run as there is no power,’ said Gandhi. Besides the Samajwadi Party, Gandhi targeted the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also. ‘Both the SP and BSP can’t develop Uttar Pradesh. The Congress will do it.’
Gandhi, who represents Amethi in Lok Sabha, also highlighted legislations like the food security act and the land acquisition act passed by the UPA government to show that it was sympathetic to the poor. He said the people of Uttar Pradesh will not get cheap ration under the food security act as the state government was worried it might benefit the Congress in elections.
SP leader Naresh Agarwal retorted by saying, ‘Rahul Gandhi has said his party wants Indians to eat a full meal. What he means is we will eat all the resources.’
‘Both Hindus and Muslims of Muzaffarnagar told me there is no enmity between people but politicians divide them. People are made to fight for political gains. Politicians never die in riots, it is the poor who face the brunt. If Uttar Pradesh is going behind, it is because people are divided here. Hindus and Muslims are made to fight each other. One caste is made to fight another. The common people don’t want to fight. There are such political forces who feel if there is no fight, they will not win. That’s why they want Hindus and Muslims to fight,’ said Gandhi at a rally in Aligarh.
The violence in Muzaffarnagar left some 50 people dead and displaced over 40,000. Exhorting people to unite, Gandhi said, ‘Till you unite, Uttar Pradesh cannot move forward. The Congress will help you do this and fight for you and your rights.’ On the performance of Akhilesh Yadav government, Gandhi asked the people gathered at the rally about the projects undertaken in the region. ‘How is the UP government working? Are the laptops working? Are the people getting employement? Big promises had been made,’ he said.
He said the state government has distributed computers but there is no electricity. ‘Congress runs the government of farmers. UP has government of computers. Computers, however, don’t run as there is no power,’ said Gandhi. Besides the Samajwadi Party, Gandhi targeted the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also. ‘Both the SP and BSP can’t develop Uttar Pradesh. The Congress will do it.’
Gandhi, who represents Amethi in Lok Sabha, also highlighted legislations like the food security act and the land acquisition act passed by the UPA government to show that it was sympathetic to the poor. He said the people of Uttar Pradesh will not get cheap ration under the food security act as the state government was worried it might benefit the Congress in elections.
SP leader Naresh Agarwal retorted by saying, ‘Rahul Gandhi has said his party wants Indians to eat a full meal. What he means is we will eat all the resources.’