Mathura: Launching a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "unkept promises", Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that he was scripting his own downfall by alienating all sections and that farmers were now "abusing" and not criticising him.
The Congress VP was inaugurating a convention of party leaders of Uttar Pradesh, the state where Congress has been relegated to fourth position after SP, BSP and BJP.
Following are the key highlights of Rahul's speech:
- "Modi promised good days to farmers. Now farmers are committing suicide. Wherever I go in the country, the farmers are abusing Modiji. They are not criticising but abusing. Youths are not getting jobs and despite making promises thrice, OROP has not been given yet" - Rahul.
"Modi is damaging himself much more than we can together inflict on him. We have to make our place. Modiji is bound to go down but when he goes, we have to fill that space. You may keep on attacking Modi but Modi is attacking himself much more" - Rahul.
- Rahul invoked Steve Jobs' efforts that revived the fortunes of a floundering Apple.
- "Party must work like Steve Jobs' Apple and be open to all opinions and not just some leaders. We (Congress) allow people to have different ideologies, unlike the RSS" - Rahul.
- "Let there be talks between leaders and workers" - Rahul.
"The Congress party is not like the RSS which guides the government. Every member's voice is heard here unlike what happens under (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat" - Rahul.
"It is unfortunate that our ideology that helped build the nation is weak in the heart of India (UP). Let's bring that ideology to life once again and it will live through the country" - Rahul.
"Modi is the opposite of Congress. Modi keeps Congress in focus. When we look at their ideology, we start focussing on our own" - Rahul.
"I think of you as a family. When I was young, my father had the power and he could have silenced me but we used to converse. Sometimes I listened to him, sometimes he listened to me. This means there is place for everyone in this family whether we like some one or not. Nobody can be thrown out of the family" - Rahul to Congress workers.
"If someone is not suited for one position, he takes another position best suited for him as all are part of the family" - Rahul.
(With PTI inputs)
