Dehradun: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Sunday accused the BJP of practising “politics of blood” by dividing people along religious and caste lines, and also attacked its record on corruption.
He also promised his party will bring legislation to enable the poor get the right to health services.
Addressing a rally here, Gandhi sought to woo women, youth and poor as he criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for practising self-centred politics.
Though he did not name any party, he said people in the opposition did not feel pain of people.
“They do politics by making people fight each other, slay each other… (They) practise politics of blood. They only want power. This is the difference between them and us. We want to give you power. They want to give you lectures, take away your power,” he said.
“Politics means removing pain of others. There is no place for anger, arrogance in it. I have understood this in 10 years,” he said.
On his arrival here, Gandhi met Chief Minister Harish Rawat and urged the state to speed up relief work in the wake of flash floods last year that killed thousands of people and damaged infrastructure. He also met ex-serivcemen and told them that he was their “soldier” in parliament.
In his rally, Gandhi targeted Modi, the Gujarat chief minister, without naming him and said the state made progress due to work of all its people, including women, youth and tribals.
He also raised questions about Modi’s anti-corruption credentials, saying the chief minister appointed a Lokayukta only after a judicial order, while accusing the BJP of “not seeing” corruption in the party-ruled states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
In an indirect reference to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Gandhi said a BJP leader, who later became party president and prime minister, had opposed computers when then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi sought to encourage their use.
The BJP now also claims to have initiated the telecom revolution, he quipped.
Noting the rights-based legislations brought by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, including the right to food, have ensured security for people, he said: “Now we will bring the right to health.”
He also said his party will work to raise income levels of 70 crore people who were above poverty line but earned less than the middle class, in the next 5-10 years.
Gandhi also sought to take credit for the “one rank, one pension” demand of ex-servicemen, which has been accepted by the government this year.
Those who give their life for the country should not be made to go through petty negotiations and the government should do all it can do for them, he maintained. (IANS)