LS polls: India will be poverty free only after Cong ouster, says Rajnath

Rajnath Singh said since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress has been promising eradication of poverty

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday mocked Congress's promises to eradicate poverty, and said India will actually be freed of poverty the day it gets rid of the Congress.

Addressing an election rally here in Howrah district, Singh said since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress has been promising eradication of poverty.

"Now, Rahul Gandhi is also assuring that. The fact is the day the country becomes free of the Congress, it will also get freedom from poverty," he said.

Lashing out at the TMC in Bengal, Singh alleged that democracy has ceased to exist under its rule in the state.

"Democracy ceased to exist in Bengal. The way violence has been unleashed on opposition parties, is it a sign of democracy? In Bengal, we would fight till we restore democracy," he asserted.

Under the TMC rule, "all the three -- the mother, the motherland and the people are suffering," he said, referring to the TMC slogan of 'Ma, Maati and Manush'.