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UP election: In 5 years, Yogi govt only divided people, says Sonia
UP election: “You have seen that a government did nothing for the past five years except dividing people,” Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said in a virtual address ahead of polls at five assembly seats in Raebareli on February 23.
The governments led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh (UP) have acted irresponsibly, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said on Monday, urging voters to cast their ballots in favour of Congress for a better future for India’s most populous state.
“You have seen that a government did nothing for the past five years except dividing people,” Gandhi said in a virtual address ahead of polls at five assembly seats in Raebareli on February 23. “We want to give you lawmakers who would work for you day and night and make legislations to empower you. Support the Congress for a better future.”
Farmers in the state have suffered under the BJP regime, Gandhi said in the context of the three farm laws that have been repealed after cultivators protested for one and half years.
“You work very hard to produce food for us. But in the past five years, you didn’t get any remunerative price for your produce, no fertilizer or irrigation facility,” she said. “You bear the burden of loans while stray animals destroy your grains.”
“It’s the same situation with young people. They diligently study for a brighter future, prepare for exams, but the BJP government has forced them to stay at home,” Gandhi said. “More than 12 lakh government jobs remain vacant. But the UP government has not given you employment. Fuel prices are so steep that common people find it difficult to run their households. My sisters of UP save every rupee to run their home, but inflation has destroyed them.”
The Congress chief’s virtual campaign came close on the heels of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calling for a Congress win in Punjab. Like Singh, Gandhi launched an attack on the Narendra Modi government.
“You recently saw the difficult times of Covid. On one hand, you didn’t get oxygen, beds and medicines, and lost many of your close ones,” she said. “On the other hand, the lockdown brought more miseries.” The central government had imposed a stringent lockdown in March 2020 at four hours’ notice to check the spread of the pandemic.
“But the Modi-Yogi governments were irresponsible. They ignored your problems and closed their eyes when you were in plight. The government didn’t ease your pain during the lockdown,” Gandhi said. “Instead of lessening your burdens, they sold companies that you helped to build to a select few industries. As a result, unemployment has risen.”
The Congress president said that the United Progressive Alliance led by her party had introduced “several welfare schemes for you, but the Modi-Yogi government has slammed the brake on those projects.”
The Congress has worked to empower people through a rights based approach when it was in power, Gandhi said. ““We brought laws such as MGNREGS that gave you right for work and make your life better,” she said. “Unfortunately, in this crisis, the government has reduced the budget of MGNREGS, instead enhancing it.”
“The Congress has stuck to its politics of service during the lockdown. When you were stuck away from home, the Congress made arrangements to send you home. We tried your best to help you,” Gandhi said in a bid to reject the Prime Minister’s recent claims that the Congress tried to push back migrant workers from Mumbai.
“The Congress in UP has brought a new vision based on our principles of service. This is aimed to give jobs for youth, rights to women, more facilities to farmers and protect people from price rise,” she said.
