Rahul Gandhi wants UP to compete with Chinese products

A day after PM Modi hurled ‘earthquake’ remarks at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha, the latter took on Modi at an election rally in Ghaziabad. Rahul also proposed a ‘Make in UP’ idea for youth in UP, on the same lines as ‘Make in India’ floated by PM Modi.

A day after PM Modi hurled ‘earthquake’ remarks at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha, the latter took on Modi at an election rally in Ghaziabad. Rahul also proposed a ‘Make in UP’ idea for youth in UP, on the same lines as ‘Make in India’ floated by PM Modi.

Rahul held an election rally in Murad Nagar and also to support former MP Surendra Prakash Goel. (Sakib Ali/HT)

Rahul held an election rally in Murad Nagar and also to support former MP Surendra Prakash Goel, who is contesting as a part of the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance. He said that the demonetisation exercise was undertaken to benefit those who had helped him become the prime minister.

Rahul told the audience that they were made to stand in queues to protect the interests of 50 big families who had procured loans from banks. “Nearly ₹6 lakh-crore of loans were taken by these families and PM Modi had no courage to draw out this money as they had made him the PM. So, Narendra Modi floated an idea to draw money from the poor, labourers, middle-class and farmers so that banks have enough cash to give out more loans,” Rahul said.

He hailed Congress’ recent alliance with Samajwadi Party and told the gathering about their plans.

The Congress leader said that on a visit to China, a man had asked him about Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. “He said that the two places are famous for apples and he wanted to give a tough competition to the apples grown in these two places in India. Likewise, I also want items from Uttar Pradesh to be sent to overseas markets and help youth set up their business. Cities in UP are famous for their products. We want to develop the state by making it into a manufacturing and business hub,” Rahul said.

He also drew out his mobile and observed that it was made in China. “When we start providing business opportunities, we want the mobile to be tagged as ‘Made in Uttar Pradesh.’ Likewise, any carpets sold elsewhere should also read ‘Made in Murad Nagar’,” he said.

He also said that Modi has not waived farmer loans, and said that the Congress had waived nearly ₹7,000 crore loans.