Rahul Gandhi targets BJP in Gujarat at Rajkot rally ahead of Assembly Elections

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit the Assembly poll hustings in Gujarat and accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of drawing up plans to displace adivasis who are the "first owners of the country" by handing over forests to industrialists.He also said the government's policies are creating "two Indias" of select billionaires and the poor.Rahul Gandhi addressed two rallies, one at Mahuva in Surat district and another in Rajkot, his first after the Gujarat Assembly poll schedule was declared earlier this month.Speaking in Rajkot, Rahul Gandhi said the bridge tragedy is not a political issue but the question is why no action was taken against those who were behind this (tragedy), and why no FIR (has been filed against them). They arrested chowkidars (watchmen) and put them behind bars, but no action has been taken against the real culprits.

Rahul Gandhi said he felt the pain of farmers, youth and tribals after meeting them during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.He raked up the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy, in which 135 people were killed last month, and alleged no action was taken against the "real culprits" because they share a "good relationship" with the BJP in Gujarat.Addressing an election rally in Rajkot, he said while watchmen (posted at the bridge collapse site) were arrested and jailed, no action was taken against the "real culprits" because they are linked to BJP.Rahul Gandhi also spoke about joblessness, inflation, demonetisation impact, "faulty GST", and the waiving of NPAs worth lakhs of crores of select billionaires while the Central government not extending the same benefit to poor farmers. The Congress MP took a break from his Bharat Jodo Yatra, which on Sunday wound up its Maharashtra leg, and travelled to Gujarat to hit the campaign trail. The Congress, which had won 77 seats in the 2017 polls, is trying to pose a challenge to BJP, seeking a seventh straight term, in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. While the BJP will be trying to continue its electoral success of the past several elections, the Congress would be looking to unseat the saffron party. This time the aggressive campaign of AAP has added a third dimension.