Latur: Attacking the BJP government in the centre and state for huge unemployment, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the ‘Made in China’ policy is killing jobs of Indian youth, here on Sunday.
Addressing his maiden poll campaign for the Oct. 21 Maharashtra elections in the parched and backward Marathwada region, Gandhi said that in the past four decades, the maximum unemployment is witnessed now in the country, but there are no jobs.
“The government is talking about ‘Make In India’, but only Chinese industries have swamped India, which is killing jobs in this country… The worried youth have no hopes of the future,” Gandhi said.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting last weekend with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Gandhi demanded : “When they were having tea and snacks the other day, did the PM ask him about the aggression in Doklam? No…!”
Touching on the economic situation, the Congress leader said that the after the demonetization of Nov. 2016 followed by Goods & Services Tax, the entire country’s economy is in shambles, ranging from automobiles to textiles and diamonds to small businesses with over 2000 factories shutting down in Maharashtra alone, and “thieves” like Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have looted and fled the country.
He warned that the current economic status of the nation is “just the beginning” and predicted dire consequences in the coming six-seven months for the economy.
“You go anywhere in the country… People only talk about joblessness, farmland crises, the economy… Where are the promised ‘Achhe Din’ (Happy Days)? They have not come… After demonetization, nobody knows how much black money was recovered, but only the poor, honest masses suffered,” Gandhi hit out.
While the farmers continue to suffer, he alleged that in the past few years, the government has cleared off bad loans of around 15 top industrialists to the tune of Rs.5.50 lakh-crore in past few years.
Besides, the government also gave a ‘diwali gift’ of tax benefits to the rich industrialists worth Rs.1.25 lakh crores last month, but there were no similar concessions for the suffering farmers, the government had no funds of barely Rs.35,000 for MNREGA scheme which is a boon for the rural poor.
“In the past many years, the country has been built and prospered because of the contributions made by people from all castes and communities. But the present government is resorting to ‘divisive tactics’ which will not work and drag down the nation’s progress,” Gandhi cautioned.
“However, instead of concentrating or debating on these burning issues, the government is busy showing people how the Indian Chandrayaan rocket was sent to the moon, Art. 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan, China, Japan, Korea, et al… But, remember, rockets will not help fill up the stomachs of the hungry millions,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi called for a return to the Congress “which lives in the soul of Maharashtra”, adding the party wouldn’t invoke the moon, but make down-to-earth promises which it would sincerely fulfill for the peoples’ welfare in the state.
The Congress leader is slated to address two more rallies in Chandivali and Dharavi in suburban and south Mumbai respectively later today evening.-IANS News
