Rajasthan elections: Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Jaipur on Saturday. (Express photo by Rohit Jain Paras ) Rajasthan elections: Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Jaipur on Saturday. (Express photo by Rohit Jain Paras ) Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched the party’s poll campaign in Rajasthan with a massive rally in the state capital where he launched a vitriolic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale aircraft deal. Addressing a crowd at Jaipur’s Ramlila grounds, Rahul said: “When the issue of Rafale aircraft (deal) is raised in the Parliament,…when he (Modi) is asked about corruption, he doesn’t even have a minute for it (the issues) in an hour-and-a-half-long speech.” Directly accusing Modi of corruption in the deal for the French fighter planes, he said the Prime Minister had “favoured” his businessman “friend” Anil Ambani by getting him the “contract”. Read | No tickets to ‘parachute candidates’ in Rajasthan polls: Rahul Gandhi “During the UPA government, we had signed a contract for 126 airplanes at Rs 520 crore each with Dassault (an international French aircraft manufacturer) and public sector company HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited)…to make these airplanes. But Narendra Modi came and went to France straightaway. With him was Anil Ambani…(who) has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore and has never made a single airplane in his life and hasn’t worked in defence. He has only one qualification, which is (he is) Modi ji’s friend, there is no other qualification. And the company which gets the contract had been set up just seven days earlier,” he said, adding that the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was also kept in the dark about the deal. Rajasthan elections: Congress president Rahul Gandhi with PCC president Sachin Pilot and AICC general secretaries Ashok Gehlot during a meeting at Ramlila Maidan in Jaipur on Saturday. (Express photo by Rohit Jain Paras) Rajasthan elections: Congress president Rahul Gandhi with PCC president Sachin Pilot and AICC general secretaries Ashok Gehlot during a meeting at Ramlila Maidan in Jaipur on Saturday. (Express photo by Rohit Jain Paras) “I said the same thing before PM Modi in Parliament. He did hear me, but when I was speaking, I was looking at him in the eye, but his eyes kept wavering and never met mine. Because your Prime Minister has indulged in corruption in Rafale, and it will be clear to all Indians with time,” he said. Ambani has already rejected Rahul’s allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale-manufacturing French firm Dassault picking up his company as a local partner. During his maiden visit to Rajasthan after becoming the Congress president, Rahul also targetted the PM for not keeping promises. “The PM read a list before India that he will credit each bank account with Rs 15 lakh, (provide) jobs to two crore youths annually, fair price for farmers, (and) women safety…”, but he hasn’t been able to fulfill any of these. He said that in 24 hours, the China creates 50,000 new jobs, but that the Modi government creates only 450 new jobs daily across India. He questioned why Rs 2,30,000 crore could be “written off” as bad loans to 15 or 20 big industrialists, but the government could not help debt-ridden farmers. Rahul also assured party workers that there will be no “parachute” candidates for the assembly polls.<doc-sep>5/6 He said that farmers were committing suicide but the government was least bothered about it. When big industrialists are unable to repay their loans, they are termed 'non-performing assets (NPA)' but, when a farmer cannot repay his debt, he is termed a 'defaulter', Rahul said. Twitter @INCIndia<doc-sep>Gandhi will also address rallies in other parts of the state, which goes to polls at year end. Gandhi will also address rallies in other parts of the state, which goes to polls at year end. Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch the party’s election campaign in the poll bound Rajasthan, which has remained a BJP bastion, from Jaipur on Saturday. Gandhi will address scores of party workers and leaders from every district at the Ramlila ground, where he will reach in a specially designed bus from Jaipur airport. “He is coming here to launch the election campaign of the Congress party tomorrow. Gandhi will lead from the front; he will give the message of victory to the party workers and will tell how we are going to campaign in the next three months,” Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said. He said the Congress workers will give the party president a historical welcome. “Gandhi is coming to Rajasthan for the first time after becoming the Congress president. It is the city where he was elevated as the vice-president of the Congress party, so this place has a lot of significance for the party,” he said. He said the BJP was already anxious about losing the elections. “The BJP has always claimed that Jaipur is a city where it remained strong but we will prove them wrong tomorrow. The BJP is already nervous and making accusations and giving misleading statements,” he told PTI. Commenting on chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s ‘Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra’, Pilot said she began the tour after Congress’s ‘Mera Booth, Mera Gaurav’ programme, under which the party covered 195 out of 200 constituencies. Gandhi will also address rallies in other parts of the state, which goes to polls at year end.<doc-sep>New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will kick start the party’s campaign for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections from state capital Jaipur on Saturday. Gandhi will travel from New Delhi to Jaipur in the morning, following which he will conduct a roadshow and interact with party workers. He will also visit at least two major temples in the city and return to Delhi in the evening. “Rahul ji will land in Jaipur around 10am, where he will be welcomed by leaders and workers of the Rajasthan Congress unit. He will then carry out a roadshow through the city of Jaipur. Along the way, he will stop at two of the city’s more famous temples. He will seek the blessings of Lord Ganesh and Govind Devji and then move on to Jaipur’s Ramleela Maidan, where he will address party workers and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates from across the state,” Pankaj Mehta, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) General Secretary, told News18.com. Gandhi’s two pit stops will be at Jaipur’s Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple and at the Govind Devji Temple, which is inside the Jaipur City Palace premises. Gandhi’s strategy of visiting temples is a continuation of the campaign in Gujarat in December last year, when he visited 27 temples across the state in the span of a month. While the Congress fell short of the majority mark, Gandhi’s ‘temple run’ helped the Congress increase its tally from 61 seats in 2012 to 77 seats in 2017 and also restricted the BJP’s tally to double digits. While the Congress may not have given any indication as to who will the party’s chief ministerial face be, RPCC president Sachin Pilot and AICC General Secretary Ashok Gehlot will both be part of Gandhi’s roadshow and rally. They will also be accompanied by AICC General Secretary In-charge for Rajasthan Avinash Pande. Speaking to News18.com, Pande said the purpose of Gandhi’s address was to “energise” the core cadre. “He will address party workers and speak about the corruption and lawlessness that has gripped the state under Vasundhara (Raje) ji. We will all work hard to ensure that the Congress party wins Rajasthan elections,” Pande said. Sources said the Congress was trying to figure out the logistics of the campaign for three big state elections lined up this year and had decided that instead of a month-long yatra, as in Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh last year, Gandhi would make 7-8 shorter trips to Rajasthan to effectively cover more ground. “So far, the strategy is to have him come to the state frequently but for shorter time periods. Rahul is going to have a busy few months ahead and we (Rajasthan Congress) will have to share his time with our colleagues and friends from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” a senior Congress leader said.<doc-sep>
Photo courtesy: Twitter/Congress Key Highlights Prime Minister favoured his businessman “friend” Anil Ambani by getting him the Rafale “contract”: Rahul The Congress president said this “corruption” by Modi will become apparent over time. Gandhi said the price of the Rafale plane fixed now is about "three times" the amount agreed upon during UPA rule JAIPUR: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi again on the Rafale aircraft deal as he launched his party's campaign for the assembly election later this year in Rajasthan. Directly accusing Modi of corruption in the deal for the French fighter planes, he said the Prime Minister had favoured his businessman “friend” Anil Ambani by getting him the “contract”. The reference was to the business that foreign manufacturers are required to bring to Indian firms when a defence deal is signed with the government, under the country's offset policy. Ambani has already rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale-manufacturing French firm Dassault picking up his company as a local partner. India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in 2015 for the procurement of 36 Rafale planes. In his address to party workers at the Ramlila grounds here, Gandhi claimed that the Rafale deal had snatched job opportunities from young Indians, including engineers, as the planes will be manufactured abroad. Gandhi said the price of the Rafale plane fixed now is about "three times" the amount agreed upon during the previous Congress-led government. He said this “corruption” by Modi will become apparent over time. The Congress chief claimed that only 450 youths got employment in the country every day while China was creating jobs for 50,000 people every 24 hours. “Our youths more honest, capable and stronger than the Chinese but it is a matter of shame that despite having almost equal population, they are getting fewer job opportunities,” he said. He questioned why Rs 2,30,000 crore could be “written off” as bad loans to 15 or 20 big industrialists, but the government could not help debt-ridden farmers. When farmers are unable to pay back their loans, they are called defaulters and are jailed. But bad debts of big industrialists are called non-performing assets (NPA), he said. He also accused the government of failing to ensure the safety of women.