Rahul attacks Modi on yoga now

Kolkata: Rahul Gandhi on Saturday directed his fire on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of hopping from scheme to scheme and the focus on the yoga event later this month and "failure" to fulfill promises like job creation.

He repeated his jibe of "suit boot ki sarkar" to paint the NDA government as pro-rich and anti-poor and anti farmer.

The Congress Vice President also slammed the NDA government over the land bill issue while referring to the agrarian and tribal agitations in Nandigram, Bhatta Parsaul and Niyamgri.

"One year ago a new government came in Delhi. It made a lot of promises like the ones made by Mamataji. It talked about employment, development, opening factories. Both (Modi and Mamata) said this. One year (of Modi government) has been completed now. Wherever I go to any meeting, I ask people to say whether even one person has got a job. But nobody raises his hand to say he got a job.

"He talked about sanitation. He said that you won't get employment and so hold a broom and start sweeping. When the talk of Swachchata is over, now he is saying that go and do yoga at the Rajpath. There is no word about employment. Every day something new is said. All these new things are being said to cover up the unfulfilled promises," Gandhi said addressing Congress workers here.

He also attacked the Modi government over the 'One Rank One Pension' issue. "Money was given for the OROP for the ex-jawans of the Army during the UPA regime. Before the (Lok Sabha) elections, Modiji went to Punjab, Haryana, everywhere and promised that he will implement it within one year if his government came to power. Now the armymen are crying. They are holding agitation and demanding that a date should be given for implementing it.

"But Modi is saying ask us later as we are doing Yoga," the Congress Vice President said.

He said the industrialists are not demanding land in some remote areas but in places like Gurgaon, Noida and Kolkata, where land prices are rising.

Attacking Left parties, he said that when West Bengal was under their rule, "they used to hit West Bengal hard with the hammer. They had the organisation here. While the rest of the country moved forward, this state got stuck up."

He said that he thought that things will change when elections happened (in 2011) and the alliance government of Congress and Trinamool came to power.

Noting that the party symbol of Trinamool Congress is flower, Gandhi said that he had thought that the softness of flower will replace the blow of hammer and sickle (election symbol of CPI-M) when Banerjee came to power in the state.

"Now it comes to fore that the flower is making a harder blow than the hammer. Mamata ji had done it all the more efficiently and deeply what they (CPI-M) had done," he said in remarks laced with sarcasm as he alleged the "suppression" of people that happened during the Left rule has all the more increased now.