Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a press conference, in Mumbai, Monday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: As Congress wrapped up its poll campaign in Maharashtra, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his friendship with Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani as he displayed a huge safe to counter the ek hai toh safe hai narrative.
To drive him his point, Gandhi lashed out at Modi and Adani vis-a-vis the Dharavi project in Mumbai.
Gandhi brought a huge safe in a press conference in Mumbai with ek hai toh safe hai written on it and later pulled out two posters from inside - one a map of Dharavi and another of Modi and Adani greeting each other.
“Question is…kaun safe hai… kiska safe hai (who is safe and whose safe it is,” he added.
This comes a day after his sister Priyanka Gandhi, addressing a rally said: “Now we hear ek hai to safe hai….what is safe?…safe actually has two meanings….safe means suraksha (safety) and safe also means tijori…and who has the tijori….Adani…yes ek hi safe hai.”
At the news conference, Gandhi said: “Dharavi land valued at Rs one lakh crore is being handed over to Adani…the project is not in the interest of people of Dharavi…it is not in the interest of people of Mumbai…it is not in the interest of Maharashtra.
Leading the Maha Vikas Aghadi charge, Gandhi, who had made the Dharavi project an issue and had spoken in all his rallies to target the BJP-led Maha Yuti, questioned the tendering process. “You all know how the Adani tendering process works…you know how central agencies like ED, CBI and IT are used…the glaring example is before you all…the Mumbai airport,” said Gandhi adding that today Adani controls ports, airports and defence projects.
“On one side, there is Adani, targeting Dharavi. On the other side are our farmers, workers, and youth, aspiring for a better life, but betrayed by the Maha Yuti government. The real intention behind Modi's slogan "ek hai toh safe hai” is to hand over Dharavi to Adani. For Modi, it means ‘Adani ek hai toh safe hai."
Asked about Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray’s assurance and his manifesto commitment that the Dharavi tender would be scrapped, Gandhi backed the statement of the former Chief Minister.
Gandhi also lashed out at the BJP for taking several projects out of Maharashtra. “Seven lakh crore worth projects have been taken out from you and five lakh youth have lost their jobs,” he said.
“The Maharashtra elections are an ideological battle—a contest between one or two billionaires and the poor people of the state. A billionaire like Adani wants Mumbai's land, estimated to be worth around Rs 1 lakh crore. But our focus is on supporting Maharashtra's poor, youth, and unemployed,” he said.
“We have promised a Rs 3 lakh rupees loan waiver and Rs 7,000 per quintal for soybeans to support farmers. We assure that our government will provide Rs 3,000 per month to women and free bus travel for women across Maharashtra,” he said.
He also said that caste census would be conducted in Maharashtra on the lines of what the Congress government is doing in Telangana and Karnataka.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.