Congress president Rahul Gandhi has accused the BJP of trying to create a \u2018hyper nationalistic environment\u2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls only to distract people from the issues of unemployment, agrarian crisis and what he called \u2018massive failures\u2019 of the Modi government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The comments by Gandhi come against the backdrop of indications that the BJP may use the Indian Air Force strikes on terror group JeM\u2019s largest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26 after the Pulwama attack as a central plank of its election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Describing the upcoming elections as all about making a choice between India of Mahatma Gandhi and that of his assassin Nathuram Godse, Rahul Gandhi also alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi generates \u2018hate\u2019 and that his brand of politics was \u2018hateful\u2019 with consequent costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BJP has criticised opposition parties for demanding evidence for the impact of the airstrikes on the camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) while its president Amit Shah said the IAF\u2019s operation showed that India is \u201csecure under the strong and decisive leadership\u201d of Modi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gandhi answered questions on topics ranging from the controversial Rafale jet deal and the state of the economy to the focus of the Congress manifesto and emergence of a grand opposition alliance to take on the BJP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Gandhi\u2019s view, a majority for the Congress-led UPA coalition is a certainty and that his party will do much better than expected. The Congress\u2019s tally of 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was an all-time low for the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe hyper nationalistic environment the BJP is trying to create, where anyone who disagrees with the BJP is branded anti-national, is only to distract from the issues of unemployment, agrarian crisis, violence and the massive failures of the government on practically every front,\u201d Gandhi told \u2018The Week\u2019 magazine in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Congress chief claimed that the Rafale deal is the \u201ctip of an iceberg\u201d and that actually what Modi has done is that he has systematically handed over massive amount of defence funds to his friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you will see, this stuff will come out, sooner rather than later, hopefully. But this is not just one deal that we are talking about. There are multiple deals where we suspect that this has happened. But again no investigation, questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stating that the job situation and agriculture are in tremendous crisis, Gandhi said one can\u2019t have a country that is divided, which is full of hate, and get the levels of economic growth that the country requires to generate a huge number of jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To a question on the Congress\u2019 promise of minimum income guarantee being touted as a game changer, Gandhi said he does not think that this alone has the power to transform the country, but under the current circumstances and the level of pain India is feeling, it is a requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an idea on an unimaginable scale that we have been working on for a long time now. The idea is that no Indian should live below a certain income level,\u201d he added.
\nGandhi said going beyond minimum income guarantee would mean tackling the job crisis on a war footing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have some interesting ideas in our manifesto on entrepreneurship and how we will treat small and medium industries and the type of freedom we will give them. To transform India we also have to free the financial institutions from the clutches of crony capitalists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On his prime ministerial prospects if all goes well for the Congress, Gandhi said it is for the country to decide whether he will get the top post but asserted his job right now is to make sure that the ideological fight against BJP that is going on now is won by \u2018the Uniters\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBroadly .. the entire coalition is standing against Mr. Narendra Modi and the BJP. And we have an understanding with our partners in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam. Those alliances are firmed up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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