Rahul makes tall promises, hails ‘pro-farmer’ model

RAJNANDGAON, Oct 29: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday promised free health treatment up to Rs 10 lakh for the poor under an existing scheme in Chhattisgarh if his party retains power in the assembly polls next month.
Addressing election rallies in the Rajnandgaon district headquarters and Kawardha (the headquarters of Kabirdham district), Gandhi also said agricultural landless labourers (in rural areas) will be given Rs 10,000 per year in place of the existing Rs 7,000.
In a swipe at BJP, he said the “amount of money they give to Adani, we will give the same to labourers, farmers and small traders of Chhattisgarh”.
He reiterated the Congress’ commitment to conduct a caste census in the country if the party is voted to power at the Centre.
He said an international airport will be set up in Chhattisgarh to help farmers export their produce after the Congress forms government at the Centre.
Gandhi said the Congress government is for the poor, labourers, farmers, backward classes, tribals and Dalits and it listens to the “voice of their hearts”.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi helped some cultivators at a village near Raipur in harvesting paddy and said the pro-farmer “model” of his party’s government in Chhattisgarh will be replicated across India.
He highlighted five schemes of the Congress government in Chhattisgarh, including loan waiver and input subsidy, as best works in the interest of farmers.
He visited Kathiya village near the state capital Raipur in the morning where he interacted with farmers and labourers and helped them in harvesting paddy, a party functionary here said.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Deputy CM T S Singh Deo accompanied Gandhi.
Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday accused the Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh of indulging in “corruption” and said the Congress-led dispensation does not have the right to remain in power in the state.
The 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 7 and 17.
Nadda was addressing the ‘Booth Vijya Sankalp Abhiyan’ programme in Amlidih area under Raipur Rural constituency after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme there.
He asked the BJP workers to visit every single house under their respective poll booths and encourage people to cast vote in next month’s state elections.
“We have been watching Bhupesh Baghel’s corrupt, incompetent, unbelievable and unimaginable government. I say unbelievable because have you ever seen the secretary of a CM lodged in jail for years. What evidence does one need when corruption is written on the forehead,” Nadda said and asked people whether such a “corrupt” government should remain in power. (PTI)