While addressing a poll rally in Assam's Barpeta on Saturday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the BJP government waived ₹16 lakh crore of the rich but didn't give anything to the poor or the farmers. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah of selling government-owned enterprises.
"They are selling government-owned enterprises i.e. railways, roads, ports, airports. Modi and Shah both are sellers and who are the buyers? Adani and Ambani are the two buyers. This is how the country develops. They are not for the development of the country. PM Modi looted the money of the country, of the poor and gave it to the rich. They have waived off ₹16 lakh crore of the rich but haven't given anything to the poor or the farmers," Kharge said.
ALSO READ| BJP functioning on borrowed leaders: Kharge
During his speech, Kharge credited former Congress prime ministers Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi for ensuring food security by bringing the Green Revolution and White Revolution to India.
"These people (BJP) advertise that PM Modi is the only one who was born to help the poor. In a country where rice and wheat weren't enough produced and we had to import from America, today we are producing the amount of wheat, rice and pulses that are sufficient for the people of the country to have their meals. This is all because of Congress, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, and Indira Gandhi who brought the Green Revolution and White Revolution to the country," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"These people (BJP) advertise that PM Modi is the only one who was born to help the poor. In a country where rice and wheat weren't enough produced and we had to import from America, today we are producing the amount of wheat, rice and pulses that are sufficient for the people of the country to have their meals. This is all because of Congress, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, and Indira Gandhi who brought the Green Revolution and White Revolution to the country," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"In a country where not even a needle used to be manufactured, if someone dared to launch rockets, it was Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi," he added.
Meanwhile, the third phase of polls in four Lok Sabha seats in Assam - Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, and Dhubri will be held on May 7. Assam recorded 77.35 per cent voter turnout in the second phase of polls, which was held in five parliamentary constituencies on April 26.
Across India, voting took place for 88 seats in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 on Friday. The fate of candidates was decided for 20 seats in Kerala, 14 in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, six in Madhya Pradesh, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one each in Tripura, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir.