Rahul attacks Modi, accuses him of being anti-poor

Blames the PM for being pro industrialists and says the land bill is his way of paying back to them

Projecting the government as "anti-farmer" and "pro industrialist", Congress today declared full scale war against it over Land Acquisition Bill with Rahul Gandhi accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bringing ordinance on it to pay back 'loan' of industrialists.

The Congress Vice President, who just returned from a two-month absence from public life, said the new land bill is not only against the interests of farmers but also the tribals.

"I tell you how Modi ji won the election. He took loans of thousands of crores from big industrialists from which his marketing was done. How will he pay back that loan now? He will do it by giving your land to those top industrialists. He wants to weaken the farmers, then snach their land and give it to his industrialist friends," he said addressing a farmers' rally here.

"Through the Gujarat model, Modi ji showed that he can snatch the land of farmers quite easily and convinced the industrialists that he can do the same in the whole country. This is Modi's model -- weaken the foundation, then attach a ladder to the building, paint it and show to the world that the building is shining," Rahul said.

Party President Sonia Gandhi accused the Modi government of adding insult to the injury of farmers by bringing the Land ordinance.

Promising to fight for the farmers' cause without making any compromises, she said, "Modi government's attitude is totally against the farmers, the helpless and the poor. We have got a new energy here and we will fight for the poor and the weak.

"We will not allow those forces to succeed, who want to destroy the legacy of our freedom. We will fight without any fear against such forces. We might be out of power but we will not allow any leniency in our efforts in this direction," the Congress President said.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the new government had brought the land bill to hurt the interests of the farmers as he alleged that Modi had "sold dreams" to farmers and youth to win Lok Sabha polls.