CONGRESS MP Rahul Gandhi Tuesday hit out at PM Narendra Modi over his “sent by God as messenger” remark, questioning whether “Narendra Modi’s parmatma asked him to help only Adani and Ambani.” Rahul was addressing a joint rally with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Bansgaon LS seat of UP. Rahul said if Modi was actually sent by “parmatma”, he would have been tasked with working for the poor, but wondered if “Narendra Modi’s parmatma asked him to help only Adani and Ambani.” In his speech, Akhilesh promised to ensure “freedom of the press” along with a change in the “mitra mandal” and “media mandal” at the Centre if voted to power. The two leaders also addressed their first joint rally in Varanasi Tuesday. Referring to himself and Rahul as “ek aur ek gyarah”, Akhilesh said their strength has now doubled while “double engine government” in Delhi and Lucknow have “cheated people of Kashi.” “Narendra Modi ko dharti pe parmatna ne bheja hai. Unko parmatna ne Hindustan bheja hai. Parmatma ka kaam karne ke liye” (Narendra Modi has been sent to earth, to India, by parmatma to do work done by parmatma) said Rahul. He wondered if “parmatma” sent Modi to “help Ambani and Adani but not to help farmers or labourers, nor to do caste-based Census.” Rahul also alleged that Modi was responsible for the “rising unemployment” in the country. Asserting that the INDIA alliance would protect the “Constitution with “dil, jaan aur khoon” (heart, life and blood) Rahul said that he has read several books by Dr B R Ambedkar and about how Dalits were treated in India in the past. He said that after Dalits having faced atrocities for years, the Indian Constitution gave respect to Dalits for the first time in history but alleged that BJP leaders are saying that they would rip apart Ambedkar's vision. Claiming that the INDIA alliance would not allow this to happen, Rahul said, “Samvidhan ko INDIA gadhbandan dil se, jaan se, khoon se raksha karne ka kaam karega.” Earlier, addressing the same meeting, Akhilesh said, “The BJP failed to bring achhe din but on June 4, khushiyon ke din (days of happiness) are approaching not only for me and you but for the press as well. There will be freedom of the press.” Akhilesh also said that after June 4, the government as well as the “Mitra mandal” and “media mandal” at the Centre would change. Promising “Atta with data”, Akhilesh told the gathering that while the BJP-led government is not longer giving oil and pulses under free ration in the past, the INDIA alliance would increase the quantity of ration as well as the reservation percentage. While seeking support for INDIA alliance candidate Ajay Rai, both the leaders targeted PM Narendra Modi. While Rahul promised relaxations on GST for Banarasi saree manufacturers, Akhilesh asked the people of Kashi to not to get swayed by “big ones” camping here.
