New Delhi:
In a major poll promise, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has declared that if voted to power his party will ensure ‘minimum income for poor.’ He also said that India will be first country to do so. The announcement comes at a time when Narendra Modi government launched ambitious ‘PM-KISAN scheme’ during its last Budget. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) was announced in the interim Budget 2019-20 on February 1, 2019. Under the Scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of upto 2 hectares. The amount will be given in three installments of Rs.2000 each.
Apart from this announcement, Gandhi slammed PM Modi on issues ranging from politicisation of IAF air strike to Rafale deal. “When the terror attack took place, Congress party cancelled all political programmes and vowed to stand with our armed forces and the government. But PM Modi was busy in shooting documentary in Corbett Park,” Gandhi said. “In last four years, it must be questioned how achche din turned into chowkidar chor hai,” questioned Gandhi.
The highlight of the rally was former Chief Minister BC Khanduri’s son Manish joining Congress. News Nation had reported on March 13 that Manish Khanduri will join Congress on March 16. We had reported that Khanduri junior had reached out to several BJP lawmakers in the state in a bid to solicit support for his crucial move. Manish Khanduri is known to be a close friend of Rahul Gandhi. It is yet not clear whether Manish Khanduri will quit his job at Facebook for his political career. At present, he is the 'Head of News Partnerships' at Facebook, India.
Meanwhile, the opinion poll conducted by the News Nation in Uttarakhand shows that 52 per cent of the people feel that Narendra Modi is the most favourable prime ministerial candidate in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, 23 per cent of people want Rahul Gandhi to run the country. In 2014, BJP won all five Lok Sabha seats in the state. By winning all five seats, BJP had balanced its 5-0 defeat in the 2009 general election. The Congress fought the 2014 general election under the leadership of CM Harish Rawat because other senior leaders were seen reluctant to participate in campaigning.
