Not here to make false promises, committed to resolving issues: Rahul

PTI, Apr 17, 2019, 2:37 PM IST

Wayand: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Wednesday reached out to the people of Wayanad, saying he did not want to make false promises, but was committed to resolving their issues after hearing their “heart and soul”.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said he was not here to tell his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ but to understand the difficulties, including the night travel ban, man-animal conflicts and lack of medical facilities, being faced by the people here.

“I just don’t want to have a relationship of just few months. I want a lifelong relationship with you. I want the sisters of Wayanad to say that I am like their brother, fathers and mothers to say that I am their son,” he said.

The Congress chief said he wanted to represent Wayanad as the “beautiful place” symbolises different ideas, cultures and that the rest of the country can learn from Kerala and Wayanad.

“Once I decided to fight election from south India, I realised that Wayanad was the best place. Because it represents many different ideas, cultures…Kerala is an example of peaceful co-existence. There is a lot that the rest of the country can learn from Kerala and Wayanad,” he said.

Gandhi said he decided to contest from south India to make a point that the voice of south is as “important” as rest of the country.

Hitting out at the Prime Minister, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Wednesday alleged that Narendra Modi has “divided” the country and made it fight within itself.

Speaking to reporters here after the Parliamentary coordination committee meeting, Gandhi held Modi responsible for the rising unemployment among the youth, farmers’ suicides and allegedly giving Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore as part of the Rafale deal.

“Narendra Modi divided the country and made the country fight within itself. The most anti-national thing to be done in this country today is creating a situation by which 27,000 youngsters are losing their job every 24 hours. Anti-national behaviour is crippling our agricultural system and forcing thousands of farmers to commit suicide is anti-national behaviour,” Gandhi said.

“Taking Rs 30,000 crore and giving it to Anil Ambani is anti-national behaviour. Narendra Modi should answer why he allowed all these things to happen,” he said.

The Congress chief also pointed out that three major topics the country needs to discuss were economic backwardness, agrarian crisis and corruption, but Modi was not even ready to address the press.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the state, had addressed a series of rallies in central Kerala Tuesday.

Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad, as a second constituency in addition to his stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, would be addressing four public meetings in the Lok Sabha constituency.

Kerala goes to polls on April 23 in the third phase of polling.

There are 20 constituencies in the state, which is witnessing a direct fight between the ruling CPI (M)-led LDF and the Congress-headed UDF in most seats.

However, the BJP-led NDA is giving a tough fight in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathnamthitta and Thrissur constituencies.