Firdaus Khan
Jhalod (Gujarat).Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday addressed a well attended election rally in Jhalod  in poll bound Gujarat and said that that Gujarat cannot be run by one person. “Gujarat is not run by one man, it is run by the people. Here the farmers, workers and poor put in sincere efforts and develop Gujarat but one individual takes the entire credit!” said the Congress leader.

Rahul Gandhi said, three four days back I was thinking what should I tell the people of Gujarat when I will address them.  Finally I got the answer and I want to share that with you.  I will tell you what Gujarat has given to the world. My father and grandmother used to discuss about various matters. When I was a child I could hear a story from them.  A story about Gandhi Ji related to the independent struggle.  Once, during freedom struggle, Gandhiji came to our house in Allahabad where Jawahar Lal Nehru and Moti Lal Nehru were staying. Jawaharlal Nehru was involved in the freedom struggle.  Motilal Nehru felt that Gandhiji had taken away his son.  One day Jawahar Lal ji was arrested and sent to jail.

Motilalji was not able to sleep and he was roaming around in Anand Bhawan, restlessly. One night he went to Ganhi Ji’s room but could not see Gandhiji on his bed. It was the winter season. He switched on the light and surprised to see Gandhi Ji sleeping on the floor in a corner of the room.  Gandhi Ji also woke up. Moti Lal Ji asked him why he was not sleeping on the bed.  Gandhiji said Jawahar Lal is in jail and is sleeping on the floor, so I too will sleep on the floor. That was Gandhi Ji and his ideology. Gandhi Ji’s ideology was Gujarat’s ideology. This is Gujarat's history... your history. Gandhi fought British with love and he could win. You please go to South Africa and ask Mandela Ji who his Guru is. He first led a violent struggle but could not succeed. Later he fought with ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence) as the main base and he won the battle.  Mandela Ji will undoubtedly admit that his guru was Mahatma Gandhi Ji;  Gujarat’s Mahatma Gandhi. You ask the President of America. He had visited India too. He also will agree that there is only one person who is the role model for him and that is Mahatma Gandhi.

This is the gift of Gujarat. I am also thankful to you for giving me a guru like Gandhiji who always shows the way for me. Whenever I face any difficulty, I read the books written by Gandhi Ji. His thoughts are very powerful.  There are some people who say that Gandhi’s ideology is outdated and irrelevant. Wrong.. His ideas are ever relevant. What has he taught us? Whenever he found it difficult to arrive in a decision, he always took such a decision which would be beneficial for the poor and the most backward classes of the society.  This is Gujarat’s ideology. But today, the present government takes decisions only for the benefits of the elite people. Gandhi Ji was such a leader who followed some ideals. He always believed that a leader should listen to the voice of the people, without any discrimination. He connected the voice of India with the voice of Congress.  He always believed that a leader should listen to the voice of the poor and should consider that people’s dream as his dream.

In Gujarat, the propaganda is that the state is developing only because of single individual and the people of Gujarat do nothing. The workers, farmers, Adivasis and small businessmen in Gujarat are not contributing towards Gujarat’s development! There is smart marketing going on here. The marketers say that Gujarat is now surging ahead only due to the efforts of one person! The women here played an important part for the success of Amul. But your Chief Minister will not agree with this!

You have mobile phone with you. Who gave this? It was Rajiv Gandhi Ji and Sam Pitroda Ji and Sam Pitroda Ji is a Gujarati. The people of Gujarat put in lots of efforts for development, but here the campaign is that only one person does everything for development! They do not recognize your efforts and hard work.

The UPA government at the centre gave you RTI and MNREGA. By MNREGA every poor in the villages is guaranteed with job. But here you are not able to reap its benefits. BJP loudly talks about corruption. It was the Congress who implemented RTI. It gave you the power. The people can know anything about the government using RTI. Even if Rahul Gandhi writes a letter to the Prime Minister, you can know about it using this Act. But in Gujarat, 14000 RTI applications are pending. We heard the voice of Adivasis and framed policy to ensure their rights in their lands in forests. But in Gujarat 150000 adivasis deprived of their rights in land. Here the voice of the people are not heard; only one voice is heard, that of your Chief Minister. Rest of the voices is being suppressed.  In Gujarat the assembly functions for only 25 days a year and when it does, the Opposition is thrown out as the government is not ready to listen to you.

We introduced the Lokpal Bill, but the BJP defeated it in the Parliament. Is there Lokayukta in Gujarat? Why there is no Lokayukta here for the past 8 years? Because the government does not want to listen to your voice. Corruption is hidden behind closed doors.  There is great marketing of Gujarat, saying that Gujarat is shining. Answer me how many days in a week do you get water?  Gujarat is shining but no sufficient water for drinking or irrigation? Where is the investment they were boasting about? Did Adivasi people get anything? I do not see any investment here. But the marketing team boasts that Gujarat is shining! More than ten lakh youth are jobless here, no electricity and water but they claim that Gujarat is shining! Here marketing is being done for only one individual!

You should change these state of affairs. The voice Gujarat should be heard. The strength is not in one person but is in your voice, the voices of youth, aam aadmi, adivasis and women. Gujarat is not run by one man, it is run by the people. Here the farmers, workers and poor put in sincere efforts and develop Gujarat but one individual takes the entire credit! You have the power and you can transform not only India but the entire world. The poor, Adivasis and underprivileged should get their rights and take part in the process of development. Their voices should be heard and we should together move forward. That is what Congress’s ideology. We have proved that we can do it. Congress has been in power at the Centre since 2004. It realizes the strength of the people and work for the overall development. We can do it here too. So Support Congress and help it to form a government here.