Congress has lost strength to unite Opposition: Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, tearing into the Congress, said that the party has lost the strength in forming a united opposition against the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

He also took a jibe at the main rival political party for not announcing chief ministerial candidate for the state.

The Home minister, while addressing the media, said: "Congress has lost all the strength and power to unite the opposition, and trust of the people. They have also not announced the name of the chief ministerial candidate for Chhattisgarh."

Claiming that the Congress has not done enough for the poor and farmers of the state, Singh stressed that since the time Raman Singh came to power, Chhattisgarh's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has doubled than the overall rate of inflation. He also claimed that food inflation has also decreased which has given relief to consumers.

"Dr Raman Singh is in power for the past 15 years and has done a commendable work to develop the state. State GDP in 2003 was only Rs 39,000 crore but now it is Rs 3,25,000 crore. The overall GDP rate of the country is more than double (compared to) the inflation rate," he stated.

On Congress president Rahul Gandhi's promise to waive loans of farmers, the minister pointed out that the Congress had made the same promise to the people of Karnataka before the elections. But, the poor farmers were issued warrants and arrested by the state later for failing to repay the loan.

During a rally in Kanker, Gandhi scion had said: "I want to assure you that farmers' loan will be waived-off within 10 days as soon as my government will come to power. We will give assistance of Rs 2500 for ripping and sowing paddy. I will also give a bonus to farmers and in case they have not received any bonus for the past two years, we will compensate for the same."

In the context of Congress promising increase in the Minimum Support Price, Rajnath Singh reminded the party saying: "They should know that it can only be revised by the Centre and not the state government".

The minister underlined, "While in power in the 1970s, the party (Congress) introduced nationalisation of banks for extending banking facilities in the rural areas but failed. After Prime Minister Modi came to power, generalisation of banks helped the poor across the country as they opened bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana."

In his concluding statement, Rajnath Singh asserted that it is only the Bharatiya Janata Party which can bring Chhattisgarh on the path of development and urged the citizens to cast their vote in favour of BJP for their bright future.

The first phase of elections comprising 18 seats, distributed in eight Naxal-affected districts, was held on November 12. The polling for remaining 72 seats will take place on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on December 11. A total of 1,291 candidates are in the fray for the two-phased state polls.

In 2013 assembly elections, the BJP bagged 49 seats, Congress got 39, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Independent got one seat each in the 90-member assembly.