Rahul Gandhi rally triggers BJP, Congress spat over poor, farmers - Livemint

Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi gestures during an address at a farmers’ rally at Ramlila ground in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress on Sunday reached out to the poor and the farmers of the country and attacked each other for not having done enough for them.

The squabble over winning the support of the two economically disenfranchised communities comes at a time when farming itself is going through a crisis and when two of the most agriculturally important states—Bihar and Uttar Pradesh—prepare to go to polls over the next two years.

On Sunday, a day ahead of the start of the second half of the budget session of Parliament, the Congress party’s top brass addressed a farmers’ rally in the national capital’s Ramlila grounds against changes to the law over acquisition of farm land for non-agricultural purposes.

The changes have already been promulgated in the form of an ordinance, but they need Parliament’s approval to become law.

While Congress leaders told the rally that their party would stand by farmers and the poor against the BJP’s “anti-poor” policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BJP parliamentarians that his government’s policies were pro-poor and pro-farmer.

“I will tell you how Modi won the (general) elections—he took loans from thousands of corporates, got his marketing done. Now he has to pay back that loan, but how will he do it? He will do it by snatching away your land and giving it to those same corporates. His idea is to weaken the farmers and weaken the bill that we brought,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi told the rally in his first public appearance in nearly two months.

“This is Modi’s model—weaken the foundation of a building, attach a ladder to it, paint it bright and shiny, and tell the world how shiny the building is even when it is hollow inside,” said Gandhi, who recently returned from a sabbatical.

Making a strong case for standing up for farmers, he added: “They will take your land, they will not give you jobs and you will fall nowhere. Wherever there is forcible land acquisition, you will find a Congress leader around you, a youth worker around you and you will find me.”

Congress president Sonia Gandhi described the policies and the intent of the BJP-led government as suspect, saying they were anti-poor and anti-farmer. “Your presence has strengthened us. You have given this country all your sweat and toil, then why have we come here? We are here because we want to tell the Prime Minister that it is enough now. We cannot see farmer rights getting trampled like this.”

The Congress party, which rolled out a rights-based programme while leading the United Progressive Alliance from 2004-2014, is looking at rallying its original support base—the poor, farmers, tribals, labourers and farm workers. For the BJP, an inroad into these sections could mean an expansion of its political footprint, particularly in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

In a bid to reach out to these sections, Modi stood his ground on Sunday, refusing to back down on his plans to dilute the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the forthcoming second half of the budget session that is scheduled to start on Monday.

In an address to the members of Parliament (MPs) of the BJP, Modi said there was a need to counter the opposition’s political campaign against the government by taking the “right message” directly to the people.

“We want land to build houses for the poor. It is the poor who need houses. Am I wrong in saying that people don’t have homes? Is it wrong to dream to say that poor have houses, electricity, water, hospitals and schools? All policies of the government are in this direction,” he said in his address. Modi further said that while there was a section that continued its tirade against the government, the BJP had always talked about the rights of the poor. “Our policies are directed to changes the lives of the people. We want to build toilets, shouldn’t women get respect? I have asked all MPs to work in this direction,” he added.

While talking about the policies of the government, Modi said there was need for eradication of illiteracy and education for minorities, scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) for the development of the country. “How will the country develop if the daughters in the minority community are not educated, daughters of SCs and STs remain uneducated?” Modi said.

Modi said it was the responsibility of the government to inform the people about its achievements. He said BJP leaders and MPs should also assure the people, especially the poor, that the government is working for them.

“There are some people who will continue to criticize the government. But we must make efforts to reach out to the people who want to listen to the good work of the government. Why should we try to convince the people who will only criticise the government? There should be echo effect of the achievements of the government,” he added.

Modi also told the MPs that the government was working towards changing the quality of life of the people. He also said that people should not think that BJP is talking about upliftment of the poor because of political gains, but it should be viewed as the national policy to change the lives of people.

A.K. Verma , a Kanpur-based political analyst, said: “The government is on the front foot and doesn’t want to give a free hand to the Congress. PM Narendra Modi is trying to counter the mobilization of people by the Congress. If protest is the right of the opposition, then dialogue is the right of the government.”

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