Ranchi: Congress general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday made her maiden appearance in Jharkhand to campaign for the former Speaker and Congress candidate, Alamgir Alam at Pakur, where polling will be held on Friday in the last and 5th phase. Priyanka made a frontal attack on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called him a "failed PM".
Priyanka Gandhi said, "Jaise school me fail hone vaala baccha jhooth bolta hai, vaise Modiji jhooth bolte hain." (Modi lies like a failed school student)
Priyanka talked only on the local issues of Santhal Parganas region in Jharkhand and said like her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, she too cared for the tribals and struggled for them. She recalled in Sonebhadra district of UP, she had rushed to sympathise with the tribals, whose land were grabbed by some influential landlords and was detained at a guest house.
Priyanka said the Congress would support the demands of the tribals of Jharkhand and there would be no amendment in the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act. The land taken away from them and handed over to the selected industralists would be returned, she assured pointing out to the Chhattisgarh chief minister, Bhupesh Baghel, sitting next to her and reminded in Chhattisgarh, Congress government returned land to the farmers of Bastar from the Tatas.
She touched all the local issues, agitation of the Aanganwadi and Asha workers, para-teachers, cancelled 12 lakh BPL cards of the tribals, and Jharkhand government was ignorant about starvation deaths. She claimed in Jharkhand, poor were getting only five kg rice free against 35 kg in the Congress-ruled states. Farmers are not getting DAP fertilizer from the government, they are being given poor minimum support price of Rs 1250 per quintal against Rs 3500 in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
Jharkhand has rich mineral resources like coal, mica, uranium, still its residents are poor, she said. Price of onion has gone up to Rs 150 per kg, 4000 primary schools have been closed in Jharkhand, MNRGEA has been scrapped, she claimed.
Priyanka said the Prime Minister failed on all fronts, and was trying to divert attention from basic issues by introducing CAA and NRC. Assam government spent Rs 1600 crores for NRC preparation, but now it admits that it has failed.
On the last day of campaign, working president of BJP, J P Nadda also addressed an election meeting at Dumka.
Polling for 16 constituencies in five districts will be held on Friday.
(With Input from Agencies)
