Rahul Gandhi addressed two rallies in Vallabhnagar in Udaipur and Baytoo in Balotra ahead of the November 25 Rajasthan assembly polls. In his addresses, the Congress leader also flagged various issues, including the demand for a nationwide caste census.
The Congress party continues to stir the political cauldron by suggesting that it will conduct a caste-based census wherever the party forms a government, with party leader Rahul Gandhi reiterating his commitment towards the survey in Rajsthan’s Vallabhnagar.
Addressing the rally in Baytoo, Gandhi referred to India’s loss in the Cricket World Cup final against Australia and used the term ‘panauti’ associated with bad luck. The word ‘panauti’ has been trending on social media since the defeat in the match, attended by Prime Minister Modi at the Ahmedabad stadium named after him. Gandhi alleged Modi diverts people’s attention while industrialist Adani picks their pockets. The Congress leader also alleged Modi waived loans of big industrialists and gave them all advantages.
He said Modi “comes on TV and says ‘Hindu- Muslim’ and sometimes goes to a cricket match. It is a different matter that the match was lost. Panauti.” “PM means Panauti Modi,” Gandhi continued.
Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Rajasthan Vallabhnagar ahead of assembly elections, said that if the Congress party is voted to power, it will conduct the caste census soon after the elections and will protect the rights of unprivileged communities of the state.“The country needs an X-ray to be done and the caste-based census is an x-ray. The BJP only thinks about big industrialists, but Congress will protect the rights of tribals,” Rahul Gandhi said.
He was speaking in Vallabhnagar which is one of the 200 state assembly constituencies in Rajasthan and is a part of the Chittorgarh Lok Sabha constituency. Rahul Gandhi also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of working for industrialist Gautam Adani round-the-clock.
“Earlier he used to say that ‘I belong to OBC’. Since the day, I talked about caste census, the PM changed his speech and started saying that there is only one caste- that is poor. But he forgot to mention the other caste- the caste of billionaires. Adani and Ambani belong to another caste. They want all the money to be given to a handful of billionaires. Modi’s job is to divert people’s attention while Adani pickpockets, they are a team,” the Wayanad MP said.
He also said that the system of the BJP is taking away people’s attention from unemployment and inflation and shifting it to hatred. “The question is, why is BJP spreading hatred in the country? I want to tell you two things, the reason for hatred is unemployment and inflation. The system of the BJP is taking away your attention from unemployment and inflation to hatred. The target of BJP and RSS is that the poor, labourers, farmers, tribals and Dalits be kept away from money. They want all the money to be given to a handful of billionaires…” he said.
Vallabhnagar Assembly constituency, is the seat where a triangular contest is expected between the Congress’s Preeti Gajendra Shekhawat, the BJP’s Udaylal Dangi and Deepinder Kunwar, wife of former Janata Sena Party MLA Randhir Singh Bhinder. It falls under the Udaipur district and the South region of Rajasthan and is categorised as a rural seat.
Vallabhnagar assembly constituency has a total of 2,45,761 voters, including 1,24,977 male voters and 1,20,784 female voters, as per the election commission’s data in 2018. This constituency has been a stronghold of Congress with the party winning nine of the 16 assembly elections held since 1952.
