Modi needs to spend some time in country as well: Rahul Gandhi

The Congress VP asserted that 'Acche Din' can come only when the condition of farmers, poor and Dalits improve in the country

In a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his frequent foreign tours while "overlooking" the farmers' problems, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Prime Minister should also spend some time in the country, where sugarcane farmers are struggling and mills are closed.

"I would like to request to the Prime Minister to please look after these farmers and the youth. Please help the farmers who are in distress and the youth who are not getting jobs," said Gandhi, while addressing a meeting of sugarcane farmers here.

"I met sugarcane farmers. they are upset as sugarcane mills are closed. They told me that money is not given to them. Thus, I request Prime Minister Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to help the farmers," said Gandhi after meeting sugarcane farmers.

"I have not come here to contest an election. I have come here to fight for the farmers. If we were in power, we would have done it (helped) immediately. But, unfortunately, I can only put pressure on the government, though we will raise the issue in Parliament," he said.

Earlier, in a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over their 'Acche Din' promise, Gandhi said "the election slogan had become a joke".

"Prime Minister Modi-led government has been in power for little over a year. Before elections he had vowed to develop the nation and had coined the 'Acche Din Aayenge' slogan. He might have forgotten it, but I would like to remind him of it. Today when we say 'Acche Din Aayenge', people laugh at it asking where are the Acche Din?" Rahul told the media here.

The Congress vice-president asserted that 'Acche Din' can come only when the condition of farmers, poor and Dalits improve in the country.

"He goes to London, Malaysia, America and meets big people but there are no Acche din here. Good days will truly come only when condition of the farmers, poor and Dalits improves," he added.

He also recalled UPA-government's MNREGA scheme, saying that it had changed the lives of people.