Shivraj government playing politics of 'India Shining', says Rahul

BJP govt has been in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003 riding on its India Shining campaign

A day after lambasting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for communal politics, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi took the fight to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s doorstep. He accused the Chouhan government of practising “politics of India Shining of air conditioners and pandering to wealthy industrialists”.

Gandhi said, “We (Congress) too build roads and glitzy airports but we take care not to leave behind the common man.” The BJP government has been in power in the state since 2003.

The Congress leader addressed two rallies in the state — at Sagar in the Bundelkhand region and in urban Indore — on Thursday.

During his first visit to Bundelkhand, Rahul recounted, he was bitten by mosquitoes and had a stomach bug from drinking water in a village. “But I was happy. Politicians should know the hardships faced by people.”

Reminding the audience in Sagar of the 2008 drought in the Bundelkhand region and the special relief package he had obtained for them, the Gandhi scion said, “The BJP has stifled your voices and demands for development.” He said “the shining airport at Bhopal” he had just stepped down at, was built by the UPA.

“We build more roads airports and railway lines, but we also empower the poor. That is why we implemented the right to food, right to job and the land acquisition Bill. We will never desert the poor. India is not built by roads, it is built by its people,” he added.  

The Congress vice-president said the BJP governance model was “exclusionary and elitist”.

At Indore, Gandhi said, “In its 10-year rule, the BJP could not make Indore the commercial capital of not just Madhya Pradesh but of India. If Indore has to be made an industrial and commercial capital, the Madhya Pradesh  government has to listen to the people. The people of Indore want jobs and infrastructure. The day government listens to the public, they day youth of Indore is given power, Indore will become a commercial capital.”

Talking about factionalism in the MP Congress, Gandhi said, “The Congress will fight as one — they have promised me that they will fight unitedly.”