Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi admitted that his party had lost touch with the people of Delhi and they taught the party a lesson by handing it a drubbing in the 2013 assembly elections. He, however added that party had learnt its lesson and promised to keep its doors open to the poor.
“There was a Congress government in Delhi for 15 years and lot of development had taken place. Despite that we lost the assembly elections. The electorate has taught us that we cannot survive by losing touch with people. We have understood our lesson and we will rebuild the organisation in Delhi which will be pro-poor,” Gandhi said.
Addressing a 25,000-strong crowd at the same ground where people had started leaving even before he could start speaking in a rally before the assembly elections, Gandhi blamed the Aam Aadmi Party for running away without fulfilling the promises it made to the people of Delhi.
Talking about the 49-day AAP government in Delhi, Gandhi said the people of Delhi were promised cheaper electricity, free water and regularisation of jobs, which were not fulfilled. “Did you get cheaper electricity, did you get free water, did you get your jobs regularised?” Gandhi asked the crowd, which responded by shouting a big no in answer to each question.
“The AAP government gave electricity subsidy for only three months. Budgets are not given for three months but for a year. The truth is that the people who were running the government have now run away. Some are seen in Varanasi, some in other places,” he said
{{/usCountry}}“The AAP government gave electricity subsidy for only three months. Budgets are not given for three months but for a year. The truth is that the people who were running the government have now run away. Some are seen in Varanasi, some in other places,” he said
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi then took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for not releasing its manifesto for the parliamentary elections.
He said the BJP perhaps think that it does not need an election manifesto and one man knows everything while the Congress had prepared its manifesto after consulting people.
“We have been working for six months. We took suggestions from you and included everything which you told us you require. But the opposition has not prepared its manifesto. It thinks that one person knows everything,” Gandhi said.