In eastern UP, Priyanka flays BJP over unemployment and inflation

The Congress general secretary slammed the Centre over the now-repealed farm laws which she claimed would have benefitted big industrialist friends of the government at the cost of farmers' hard work

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday flayed the Centre for selling off PSUs and the UP government for not filling up 12 lakh vacant posts as she accused the BJP of working only for the rich and its big industrialist friends.

The Congress general secretary also slammed the Centre over the now-repealed farm laws which she claimed would have benefitted big industrialist friends of the government at the cost of farmers' hard work.

Addressing a poll rally in Tamkuhi Raj area of Kushinagar in support of Congress candidate and its state unit president Ajay Kumar Lallu, Priyanka Gandhi also hit out at the government for inflation, high fuel prices and electricity bills, farmers' woes, among others.

She asked why the situation was such in the last five years that the youth are unable to find jobs, small traders and businessmen are worried over new policies being announced, farmers can't earn a living, women are hit by inflation and concern for their safety, security.

"How did such politics flourish here? For whom are these policies being made? It's time to open eyes and understand this. The politics being done in this state and in the country is only for the rich, only for a select few industrialists, Priyanka Gandhi said.

She said employment is generated either from agriculture sector or middle-size businesses, government jobs and public sector undertakings (PSUs) like BHEL, ITI, Railways, etc. which were nurtured by the Congress and were public property but the BJP has sold them off.

"There are 12 lakh vacant government job posts but UP CM and PM Modi, both of whom talk big, have failed to fill up these 12 lakh posts. Today during the elections, they come and say to you that they have provided four lakh jobs when they had promised 70 lakh jobs, the Congress leader said.

She alleged the Centre has sold the country's properties to two big industrialists who fund the BJP.

"The airports, the ports, and big companies of the country have been sold. For whom are the state government and the union government working, for whom are these policies being made, she asked.

"On one hand, they say they will provide people with jobs and on the other hand they have sold every institution which offered employment, she added.

She said the youth have been forced to migrate out of the state in search of a job while many are forced to waste four-five years even after clearing exams as they keep waiting for appointments.

"What kind of 'antaryaami' (omniscient) are you that you do not even know about the plight of the people, she said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She accused the government of deliberately keeping people jobless, unemployed and disempowered as it knows the public will not question them.

"They know they will come during election times and talk about religion, caste and you will blindly vote for them. They have realised this. It's a big mistake you have committed in your state by allowing such politics to flourish for decades, Priyanka Gandhi said.

You trusted these politicians. They knew that the public is gullible, we will come during elections, talk to women and men on religious lines, caste lines for vote and they need not work, she added.

Before the public event, Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress party in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, held road shows in Kushinagar and nearby Ballia district in eastern part of the state.

The district of Kushinagar, which goes to polls on March 3, has seven assembly seats of Kushinagar, Khadda, Padrauna, Tamkuhi Raj, Fazilnagar, Hata and Ramkola of which the BJP had won five in 2017 elections.

The seat of Tamkuhi Raj was won by Ajay Kumar Lallu of the Congress amid a BJP juggernaut which had restricted the grand old party's victory to only seven seats in the state.

Elections to the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases this time. Five rounds of polling are over while the last two are scheduled on March 3 and 7. Results of all phases will be declared together on March 10.