Vote to turn Bundelkhand into Bangalore: Rahul Gandhi

LUCKNOW: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has blamed rival political parties of dividing people on religious and caste lines, even as he steered clear of controversial remarks that marked his recent outings. At his two rallies in Hamirpur and Deoria on Wednesday, Gandhi blamed UP’s Akhilesh Yadav government for not implementing the right to food scheme.

Gandhi tried to strike a local connect by highlighting development issues plaguing each region. “I have an old association with Bundelkhand. I came here when there was crisis (drought). We sent a special package for development of this region. Did you get it? No,” he said at Hamirpur, blaming the previous Mayawati government and the present Akhilesh Yadav government for ‘misusing’ funds meant for Bundelkhand region.

Making a comparison with another similar region, Gandhi said that there was water scarcity in Rajasthan too but the Congress government in the state had developed it into an industrial state. “Rajasthan would soon become the most-industrialised state in the country” he claimed.

He said that the UPA government was developing railway and industrial corridors passing through several states which will change the fortune of the populace. He said that people in Bundelkhand should dream big and should not confine to merely demanding a railway line. “You must demand more industries in your area. You must demand linkages to the world. You say Bundelkhand should be linked to Delhi, but I say Bundelkhand should be linked to America,” he said.

He said that the people of region should vote to make Bundelkhand into another Bangalore and demand their state government work towards realising such a dream.

At the Deoria rally, Gandhi witnessed a brief protest by Swaraj Party activists who raised slogans. They were forced out of the venue by Congress activists. Gandhi said that he had gone to Muzaffarnagar and met Hindus and Muslims. He alleged politicians were driving a wedge between communities, “but despite this the people of UP are vigilant and intelligent.”

He expressed the hope that the region would “repeat the mandate you gave us in 2004 and 2009, as you want an aam aadmi government,” he said.