Beware of 'suited-booted' friends of Modi: Rahul Gandhi in Bihar

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday cautioned the people of Bihar to be wary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "suited-booted friends" who may take away their land in the name of development.

Addressing a rally in Bihar's West Champaran, Gandhi said the uprooted landless people would find no shelter in big cities as they would be treated as outsiders and would be driven away from there too.

Referring to Bihari migrants being attacked as outsiders, he said: "If the BJP government comes here, people will come here in suit-boot and demand your land. Then you go to other states you would be asked to go back as you don't speak their language, you would be beaten up."

He said if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power in Patna, the suited-booted friends of the prime minister from New Delhi and Gujarat will come to grab the land of the people of Bihar.

Assailing the prime minister for not providing employment as he had promised that two crore people will be provided employment every year, Gandhi asked the people assembled at the rally to raise their hand if any one of them had got a job as promised by Modi.

"The government only made false promises, no change in unemployment, inflation and poverty," Gandhi said.

To buttress his point that the Modi government failed to generate any employment, Gandhi said during the Lok Sabha campaign Modi had promised to revive sugar mills in Champaran but so far nothing has been done in this direction.

Comparing the suited-booted culture of the Modi dispensation with the simple living of Mahatma Gandhi, he said: "Gandhi ji gave up the comforts of his life to serve the people."

He said while Congressmen want to mix with people, Modi and his friends are averse to the common man.

He also said: "Congress want to save Bihar and its people from suited-booted sarkar."

Gandhi said the prime minister has distanced himself from the poor people and "they (government) want to keep their suit clean, we want to embrace 'dhoti'".

"If you want to bring in "rozgar", talk to the people who need it, not to those in suits," Gandhi said, adding: "Modi started off as a tea seller, his clothes started getting better. From kurtas he moved onto 15 lakh suit."

"We will create jobs in Bihar; we will give a credit of Rs.4 lakh to Bihar youth for education. If our government is formed here, we will create employment opportunities in Bihar," Gandhi said asking people to vote for his party in the upcoming elections.

Bihar will have five-phase elections between October 12 to November 5 to elect the 243-member assembly. Counting of votes will take place on November 8.