PANJIM: Throwing open the Congress Lok Sabha campaign in Goa, All India Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhi on Friday promised to restart mining in a sustainable manner. He was addressing the party’s booth workers convention on a visit to Goa.
Gandhi addressed the ‘Jeet Ki Ore’, an overcrowded Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium with more than 12,000 booth workers, some of whom had to stand outside the stadium premises.
The Congress president launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre as well as State for closure of mining. “Lakhs of people have suffered due to the closure of mining. And we have taken a decision that mining will be started in a sustainable way by the Congress party,” he stated.
Attacking the government on the coal issue, he said that the Modi government was turning the State into a coal capital. He said “Goa is known as a tourism centre but now Narendra Modi for his crony capitalist friend is busy making Goa a coal centre. Goa has lost employment, tourism has been lost, and therefore the future has also been lost.”
Taking a dig at the government formation by the BJP in 2017 after the Assembly elections, Gandhi said, “Congress party was given the mandate to form the government in Goa like in many other states, but BJP paid money and stole away your government and the people’s governments. This is not about the Congress only but it is the people of Goa.”
Stating that unemployment is at its highest during the last 40 years, he promised minimum income guarantee. “We will not make false promises of Rs 15 lakh in people’s account, 2 crore jobs for the youth and proper pricing for farmers. But we will promise only the truth. We will provide minimum income guarantee and put the money in every poor person’s bank account,” he added
Gandhi was welcomed with a roar of ‘chowkidar chor hai’ slogan. Continuing the tempo, Rahul said “Modi came to power on the plank of ‘Acchhe Din’ and whenever he would say ‘acchhe din’ the reply would come ‘ayenge’. But today the moment one utters ‘chowkidar’ you will get an instant reply, ‘chor hai’. Why this happened, because Narendra Modi had asked people to make him ‘chowkidar of the
nation’. But what happened after he became prime minister, the Rafale deal was changed.”
Earlier, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar handed a floral welcome to the Congress president on behalf of his workers. Leader of the Opposition Chandrakant (Babu) Kavalekar, former chief ministers and MLAs Luizinho Faleiro, Pratapsingh Rane, Digambar Kamat and Ravi Naik, all Congress MLAs, former MPs Eduardo Faleiro, Ramakant Khalap and Francisco Sardinha, president of the frontal organisations of the party as well as district, block and booth leaders were in attendance.
