Make in Assam, Rahul's new poll plank

Our Bureau

Goalpara/ Bongaigaon/ Dhubri, April 4: Intensifying the Congress campaign for the second phase of assembly elections, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi today mooted the idea of 'Make in Assam' - much on the lines of Prime Minister rendra Modi's 'Make in India' - to provide employment to over 10 lakh people in the State.

"Prime Minister rendra Modi speaks of 'Make in India' but for us, the development of Assam and its youth take priority and we have been doing it for the last 15 years," Gandhi told an election rally at Goalpara.

Gandhi said the Congress will fight for the rights of people of the State "which have been taken away by the rendra Modi led- Bharatiya Jata Party (BJP) government at the Centre". "Modi withdrew the special status the Congress party gave to Assam. Modiji is anti-poor. Moreover, in whichever state they (BJP) are forming a government, they are inciting violence there," claimed Gandhi.

"I have proposed an idea to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi that people earning less than Rs 2.5 lakh should get free medical facilities in the State. We will be coming up with a scheme through which we will provide fincial aid to farmers in need. We will also provide cold storage in every block," promised Gandhi. Reiterating that Assam was ridden by killings and violence before the Congress came to power in 2001, Gandhi claimed that the Congress with its policy of love and compassion brought about a change to ensure development of the local people.

"When we talked about Assam 15 years ago, we only knew it as a place of terror. We never talked about development, roads, education, medical facilities etc. But the Congress government brought about a transformation in the last 15 years. Now Assam is known as a developed State of India," Gandhi said at another rally at Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon.

"It was the Congress that brought peace and started the development process in the State, leading to a rise in the per capita income, constructing more than 24,000 kms of roads, setting up three new medical colleges and providing scholarships to more than 7 lakh students in the State," he said.

"We don't make false promises like Modi did before the last Lok Sabha elections but we toil hard by giving our blood and sweat to improve the condition of the poor in the country," Gandhi said.

He said the Congress cares for the security of the poor and is "not like BJP which is only interested in creating divisions in society, guided as they are by RSS ideology from gpur".

"Modi had promised before the Lok Sabha polls that he would "ensure return of black money and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of all citizens but now he is trying to turn black money into white by his 'Fair and Lovely' scheme", Gandhi said, referring to an amnesty scheme announced in this year's Union Budget.

"This election is a fight between thoughts and ideologies. On one side, there is an ideology that fought against the British, brought the Constitution of India, loves and respects the citizens of the country -- the me of which is Congress," he said.

"On the other hand, there is a line of thought which believes in breaking things, that wants people to fight against one another, wants to spread hatred --- the me for this kind of thought is rendra Modi, BJP, RSS," Gandhi said at a rally in Dhubri, located along the India-Bangladesh border.

"India does not belong to any particular caste or community. It belongs to all Indian citizens who have been living here," he said.