Nahan (Himachal Pradesh): Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday appealed to the people of Himachal Pradesh to vote for the victory of all four Congress Lok Sabha candidates, while promising them that he and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will "be the voice" of the hill state in the national capital.
"Priyanka and I are your soldiers in Delhi, and we will raise the voice of Himachal Pradesh in the capital, " he said at a public meeting in Sirmaur district for the party's Shimla Lok Sabha seat candidate.
Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narender Modi for failing to provide aid to Himachal Pradesh following the last monsoon season’s disaster, which affected over 22, 000 families. He said the Union government has yet to release Rs 9, 000 crore relief funds to the state.
Additionally, he accused PM Modi of colluding with big business, resulting in unfair prices for apple growers in Himachal. Gandhi charged the Prime Minister with "serving the interests of 20-25 wealthy individuals of the country" and "focused on making 22 people in the country millionaires", alleging that Rs 16 lakh crore in loans for these individuals has been waived off over the past decade.
Gandhi criticised the media for ignoring issues like apple prices, and problems of farmers and labourers. He said the BJP government has devastated millions of small businesses through demonetisation and the mismanagement of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation. "Dreams of a select few are being fulfilled while the rest of the country looks on, " he said.
Congress state in-charge Rajiv Shukla, state party unit President Pratibha Singh, Congress candidate from Shimla Vinod Sultanpuri, Industries Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan, MLA Ajay Solanki and party officials and workers were present.