Rahul Gandhi interacts with mine workers in Bikaner

Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi met mine workers in Rajasthan's Bikaner district and assured them of development.

During interaction here yesterday, Gandhi heard grievances of mine workers and discussed various issues including low wages, system inequalities, right to health and unfair land acquirement regulations.

Gandhi said that the real issue was that the voice of the poor was not being heard properly by the system. "I am very happy to be here to listen to you issues," he said.

Gandhi also took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that governs Rajasthan, saying it was paying no heed to voice of the poor.

"Nobody hears the voice of poor and downtrodden, however louder they may shout. They (Rajasthan government) find new ways to ignore this voice, and call it development. The whole system is like that. Even if the land is yours and they are taking coal out of it, they won't give you any remuneration for it," said Gandhi.

Gandhi further reiterated that objective of his Congress party was to uplift 700 million poor labourers and workers of India to middle-class level.

"If the government wants to acquire land of any rich person, they can't do it. But if the land belongs to poor, they acquire it within minutes," added Gandhi.