Rahul said that he cannot make promises matching the PM about depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Jan Dhan account but will certainly implement the promise of waiving off farm loans.
Throughout his 40 minute speech, Rahul targetted both Naveen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in equal measure, alleging that both harbour similar philosophy and favour industrialists. He maintained Odisha is not poor but the people are because the present regime has given away all the state’s resources to 15-20 industrialists. He also took on the CM for the state of health care in Odisha, drawing attention to incidents of husbands carrying ailing wife on shoulder or bicycle from hospital.
The Congress president described Naveen as the “junior partner” of the Narendra Modi government which “remote controls” the state. “Narendra Modi is shielding the Odisha government from the chit fund scam and is remote controlling it from the Centre. And Naveen has given in to the Centre’s directions as well as that of RSS from Nagpur,” Rahul alleged, referring to the state government’s pro-GST, pro-demonetisation stand and bailing out the BJP-led government on several legislations in Parliament.
Asking the crowd in the rally if anyone among them has got job as promised by the Naveen government or by the Modi government, Rahul said they will fulfill the second promise of providing jobs to the youths if elected to power in Odisha. He said that 1.3 lakh government jobs in Odisha, 1200 lecturers post and 3000 teachers post are lying vacant.
Taking jibe at the PM, he said the days of achhe din are not heard anymore. Today, it has been replaced by “chowkidaar chor hai”. He referred to the controversial Rafale deal, alleging that Modi has purchased the fighter jets at inflated rates and favoured Anil Ambani’s company over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce them in India under offset clause. The jobs that would have come to youths through the HAL plant in Odidha has been wasted, he contended.
