New Delhi, March 7 In a major campaign speech, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday announced five key promises for voters in Kerala, while also attacking the ruling Communist Party of India (CPI) and accusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of being controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony of the state-wide ‘Puthuyuga Yatra’ led by Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, Gandhi said, “Just as Trump controls Modi, the Prime Minister controls the Chief Minister of Kerala.”
Gandhi announced five key pledges for the people of Kerala, including free travel for all women on KSRTC buses. He also announced a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 for college-going female students, an increase in welfare pensions to Rs 3,000 per month, a new health insurance scheme covering every household with Rs 25 lakh coverage, and interest-free loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for young entrepreneurs.
He also announced the creation of a dedicated ministry for the welfare of senior citizens.
Gandhi strongly criticized Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accusing Prime Minister Modi of controlling him.
He alleged that even members of the CPI(M) were aware of this and would admit it.
“I want to understand why the CBI and ED are taking action against opposition politicians but not against the Chief Minister of Kerala,” he said.
Gandhi also claimed that he had been interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate for 55 hours and that there were 36 cases against him.
He alleged that the ED had taken no action against the Chief Minister and his family.
According to Gandhi, the UDF, led by the Congress, was working to defeat the CPI(M) and the BJP in the upcoming elections.
He also accused the LDF government of functioning in the interests of large corporations.
“This is the most corporatist government Kerala has ever seen,” he said.
He also called for the renaming of the CPI to the “Corporate Party of India.”
“At least stand for what you say you are,” he said.
Referring to the alleged theft of gold at the Sabarimala temple, Gandhi claimed that the investigation was being prevented from reaching the top leadership.
“We will take strict action against those who dishonoured Sabarimala,” he said.
He also accused the LDF government of creating a serious unemployment situation in the state.
“Modi has destroyed the employment system in India and the CPI(M) has destroyed it in Kerala,” he said.
Gandhi also criticized the Prime Minister, accusing him of letting the country down.
“He has betrayed the country,” Gandhi said.
He said that he was using the word deliberately and believed that the Prime Minister had betrayed the country by signing the trade deal with the United States.
Gandhi claimed that the consequences of the agreement would be borne by the people of India.
“No Prime Minister before him has opened our agriculture to American agriculture,” he said.
He also warned that large American companies would compete with small Indian firms.
He said that the deal would devastate farmers growing crops such as cotton, corn, pulses, fruits, and soybeans.
Gandhi also accused the Prime Minister of compromising the country’s energy security.
“Imagine the Prime Minister of India committing to President Trump that we will buy oil from where America wants us to,” he said.
Referring to the trade deal, he said that the US could extract data from India, which he described as the "most valuable asset" in the era of artificial intelligence.
“AI is all about data and India, with 1.4 billion people, is the largest producer of data. All of it has been signed away by Prime Minister Modi,” he alleged.
Earlier in the day, during a dialogue with the Information Technology (IT) Fraternity at Technopark here, Gandhi said that if India had said that its data was the most valuable in the world, there would have been no taxes on agriculture or on small and medium businesses.
He claimed that, except him speaking out against it, there was "not a peep" in India when its data was "handed over" to the US as part of the deal signed by the central government.
During his interaction with the tech professionals, the LoP in Lok Sabha also said that China has built a "superb and unmatched" industrial system in the world, but the neighbouring nation was "coercive and undemocratic".
He was also concerned that China dominated the electric motors and batteries technology which saw wide usage in the Ukraine-Russia war and the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
"That is a huge problem," he said, adding that he was confident that if aligned properly, an Indian company can take on the Chinese in that space.
