Like 'pickpocket', Modi diverts attention from issues: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "loudspeaker" of certain industrialists, and said his strategy was like that of a pickpocket who diverts people's attention before stealing.

Addressing an election rally in Yavatmal district ahead of the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Gandhi said the prime minister speaks of the moon and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, but is silent on issues being faced by farmers and the common man, like joblessness.

"The Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation broke the back of small and medium enterprises, farmers, labourers and poor people. Till the Modi government is in power, the issue of joblessness will continue to haunt the country. The problem of joblessness will grow in six months," he claimed.

Criticising the government's decision to waive off corporate tax, Gandhi said certain industrialists were given such benefits, but not the poor sections of society.

He claimed the government was planning to privatise country's assets like ports, Air India, coal mines and PSUs.

"Modi is the loudspeaker of Adani and Ambani. Just like a pickpocket, who diverts attention of people before stealing, his (Modi's) only job is to divert your attention so that he can pass your money to a select few industrialists," the former Congress president alleged.

While the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Right to Food, land acquisition and tribal laws were being amended, the amendment of GST was not acceptable to the government, he said.

The country's economy is not run by industrialists, but by farmers, labourers and mid-size businesses, he said.

"When the poor gets money, he starts purchasing, when the demand increases, manufacturing gets a boost," he said, adding that the NYAY scheme, earlier proposed by the Congress, was to jump-start the economy.

The annual budget of MNERGA is Rs 35,000 crore and the Modi government waived off corporate tax worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore in a single day, Gandhi charged.

Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's recent France visit, he said the latter did a puja of the Rafale fighter jet.

"But, Rs 35,000 crore was stolen from the jet deal. The media will not write about this because it is being controlled by industrialists. Your money is given to the media so that they publicise Modi," he alleged.

He said Maharashtra has an opportunity to rectify all problems by voting for the Congress and NCP.

"We will bring a government which will work for the poor, farmers, labourers, and small and medium businesses," he added.