New Delhi, April 8 Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the Congress is committed to ensuring statehood for Puducherry, as it should not be run from Delhi, while appealing to the people of the Union Territory to give his party an overwhelming majority.
A day before the polling for the Puducherry Assembly election, Gandhi said that an ideological battle is on, in which on one side there is the hatred, violence, and anger being spread by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and on the other side there is the love, affection, and unity that the alliance led by the Congress is always focused on spreading.
"The Indian Constitution guarantees representation to all its people. One of the unfortunate aspects of Puducherry is that you have not been given the level of representation you should be given," Gandhi said in a video message posted on X.
"You are run by the LG, who essentially is a king, and you are run from Delhi. We do not want you to be run from Delhi. We want Puducherry to be run from Puducherry by the people of Puducherry," the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha asserted.
"We are committed to the statehood of Puducherry, and we are also going to hold the panchayat elections as soon as possible, within six months of getting elected," he said.
Gandhi urged people to wholeheartedly support the Congress in Puducherry.
"Also, you would have seen in our manifesto that we have some very powerful ideas for the future of Puducherry. We are going to make bus travel free for all the women across Puducherry, we are going to give you a brand new health insurance scheme that is going to protect you from any medical eventuality.
"You are going to have a Rs 20 lakh health insurance per family guaranteed by the government of Puducherry. Please vote for the Congress, give us an overwhelming majority so that we can start working for the people of Puducherry," he said.
Around 9.5 lakh voters will decide the electoral fate of 294 candidates in the Puducherry Assembly polls on Thursday, and all arrangements have been made for a smooth conduct of the election.
While the BJP-led NDA is fighting to retain its "double-engine" government, the opposition bloc is making a push to regain power in the Union Territory, focusing on issues of local autonomy and administrative friction.