Rahul Gandhi kicks off Karnataka campaign with Rafale

Hosapete: Virtually kicking off his party’s campaign for the Karnataka assembly polls, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, deftly  played on the sympathy of the people here on Saturday, recalling his mother’s connect with Ballari, and tore into the government for failing to come clean on issues like unemployment, farmers’ suicides and the Rafael deal.

Launching the Congress’ “Janaashirwada Yatra” in Hosapete, he said the Prime Minister in his hour-long speech  in Parliament spoke only of the Congress and its past history, but did not spell out his plans to take India forward. Accusing Mr Modi of  “driving India while looking into the rear-view mirror,” Mr Gandhi claimed that the PM was causing several “accidents” in the process such as demonetisation, the “Gabbar Singh Tax” (GST) and the “Rafael deal scam.”

Questioning the NDA government’s silence on the Rafael deal with France, Mr Gandhi said that Mr Modi had “snatched” a contract from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to award it to “his friend.” “Why did you snatch the deal from HAL and award it to your friend? Why did you destroy the bright future of Bengaluru youth? What is the price of each jet fighter? Did PM Modi seek permission from the cabinet committee on security for this deal?” Mr Gandhi demanded, advising Mr Modi to learn from chief minister Siddaramaiah on how to run a transparent government.

Mr Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of helping corporates by providing them land, power and water at highly subsidised rates in Gujarat. Incentives amounting to Rs 33,000 crore were given to the Tatas for manufacturing the Nano car in Gujarat, he recalled, while merely Rs 55,000 crore was given for the welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes of Karnataka, while Rs 27,700 crore had been allotted for their welfare in the state alone.