Rahul Gandhi calls PM Modi's achhe din a joke; hints at realignment with SP

LUCKNOW: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has criticised PM Narendra Modi for his ‘frequent’ foreign visits and claimed that the Congress was the only party standing behind the farmers and poor. Kickstarting a farmers’ padyatra in Saharanpur on Monday, in his bid to revive the fortunes of the Congress in UP, Gandhi dropped subtle hints of future realignments when he said that chief minister Akhilesh Yadav still had some time to settle issues related to farmers.

Gandhi marched for about 6 km, covering four villages of Saharanpur and meeting people and party workers on Monday. Taking a swipe at Modi’s foreign trips, Gandhi said that he should spend some time in the country where farmers have been adversely hit.

Highlighting the plight of sugarcane farmers Gandhi said, “I request PM to look after the farmers and youth.” Gandhi said that he met cane farmers who complained of not getting payments for the produce sold to sugar mills. “Farmers are angry that they are not getting payments. I request prime minister Modi and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav to help the farmers,” said Gandhi.

Gandhi said that while the PM was abroad, he was standing beside farmers, adding that Modi’s ‘ Acche Din’ had become a joke. Gandhi said that despite the BJP being in power for one-and-half years, no work can be seen and people are questioning the claims of the arrival of good days. He alleged that the BJP came to power at the Centre after ‘stoking riots’ in Muzzafarnagar ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.