Lok Sabha elections 2019: Rahul Gandhi sells Congress’s NYAY at Gaya rally for Jitan Ram Manjhi

Capping his party’s campaign for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the NYAY, a reference to his party’s proposed minimum income guarantee scheme, would undo the “anyay (injustice)” of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre.

Rahul was speaking at a rally in Gaya, which is among the four Lok Sabha constituencies in the state going to polls in phase 1 on April 11, the other three being Jamui, Nawada and Aurangabad. The Congress itself is not in the fray in any of the four seats.

The Congress president, who arrived at the rally three hours late at 4 pm, said Modi had deceived crores of people of the country and also cheated the youth and farmers with promises of 2 crore jobs and doubling the farmer’s income.

Gandhi said the Modi government at the Centre had ruined the country’s economy and plundered the poor to fill the “kitty of his friend Anil Ambani”.

He also sought to corner the PM on the issue of special status to Bihar.

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who recently joined the Congress, also addressed the rally, terming demonetization as “the biggest scam of the world”.

Former chief minister and HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is the Grand Alliance nominee for the Gaya seat, reminded the gathering of his decisions as the CM for integrated development of Gaya and Bodh Gaya. He talked about Bitho dam on the Falgu river and also development of infrastructure for tourism at Bodh Gaya. “My projects are gathering dust as chief minister Nitish Kumar has been sitting over the files,” he said.

Meanwhile, rains, accompanied by a strong storm, started lashing the rally venue of Gandhi Maidan, leading to a stampede-like situation an hour before the arrival of the Congress president.