Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of "snatching" tribal land.
Congress
president Rahul
Gandhi Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of "snatching" tribal land
and asserted his party will work for protecting the rights of the
community.
Addressing
a rally at Bhawanipatna, among the backward regions of the state,
Gandhi said the BJP-led government at the Centre and the BJD
dispensation in the state have "failed to work" for the
welfare of the dalits, the tribals, the farmers and the poor.
"The
Congress is the only party committed to safeguarding the land of
tribals. We will protect the rights of tribals in Odisha and
elsewhere," he said.
This
was Gandhi's second visit within 10 days in the state where Assembly
and Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held together. Gandhi had
addressed a rally at Bhubaneswar on January 25.
In
stinging attacks on the BJP and the BJD, Gandhi said the two parties
are working for the "benefit of their industrialist friends"
while "neglecting" the farmers and poor people.
The
Modi government readily waived Rs 3.5 lakh crore loans of 15
industrialists, but refused to waive farm loans, he alleged.
Despite
its promise, the BJP-led government has "failed" to provide
remunerative prices to farmers for their produce in order to mitigate
their plight, the Congress president alleged.
Gandhi
alleged that Naveen Patnaik failed to work for the benefit of farmers
in Odisha.
The
Congress president said that within two days of forming governments
in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, farm loans were waived
by the Congress governments in these states.
He
also accused the "Chowkidar" (PM) of being "corrupt"
and charged Naveen Patnaik with being "remote controlled"
for chitfund scams.
The
Congress
has decided that land acquired for setting up industries would be
returned to the farmers if projects fail to take off within a period
of five years of land acquisition, he said.
The
Congress chief said work in this regard has already started in
Chhattisgarh.
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