Not afraid of defamation cases: Rahul Gandhi

Khargone (Madhya Pradesh): Congress President Rahul Gandhi lashed out at his critics saying no number of defamation can threaten or scare him.

Upping the ante at an election rally in Khargone, the Gandhi scion said, “The truth will be laid bare out in the open in front of the people. You may slap any number of defamation cases against me. But you can’t shun the truth.”

Rahul’s statement comes after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son Kartikey had filed a criminal defamation suit against the Congress President in a local court, accusing him of intentionally making a false allegation about his name being in Panama Papers during an election rally in Jhabua on Monday.

Meanwhile, Rahul, while taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drew a comparison between the Prime Minister and absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi. “Nirav Modi fled after duping the Indian banks of Rs 35,000 crore. Lalit Modi was another scamster. The third thief is Narendra Modi. The magic of Prime Minister has worked miraculously and transformed the slogan from Acchhee din to chowkidar chor hai in 4 years.” he quipped.

In a bid to woo the farmers, the Gandhi scion said that during UPA rule, the farmers were given Minimum Support Price (MSP) but now they have to ask for it. “If Congress is voted to power, it will construct food processing plants near farms. Firstly, the farmer will get the right price for his produce and secondly, locals will get employment in the plant.”

Attacking Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pushed the state 15 years back. Chouhan is embroiled in Vyapam scam which took the life of 50 people. In order to seek education, people have to pay lakhs of rupees to the chief minister and then to his ministers. There are several other scams like e-tendering.”

Exuding confidence in Congress for winning the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, the Gandhi scion said, “The Congress will waive off loans of all the farmers within a 10-day time frame and it will not exceed to the eleventh day.”

Further alleging the Narendra Modi-led Centre of illegitimately writing off the loans worth Rs 3.5 Lakhs crore of wealthy businessmen, he asserted, “Rs 35,000 crore is required to run the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme on an annual basis. But, PM Narendra Modi has illicitly written off loans equaling ten times of the ultra-rich.”

Bringing to the fore the issue of unemployment, Rahul added, “The Prime Minister had promised of generating employment of 2 cr in 5 years. However, as per the government data, only 450 people secure a job in a day across the country. As a result, the people of MP have fled to other places like Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana.”

Single-phase assembly polls in the state will be held on November 28, and counting of votes will be done on December 11.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]