Jobs for youth 'snatched' during BJP rule in Haryana, says Rahul Gandhi

Sonipat, Oct 1 (IANS) Seeking votes to create jobs and to check inflation, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that employment opportunities for the youth were “snatched” during the BJP rule in Haryana.

After holding the second leg of Vijay Sankalp Yatra from Bahadurgarh to Sonipat, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha slammed the BJP-led central government by saying the Agnipath scheme was brought to snatch Agniveers’ pension, canteen facility for their family members and their status of martyr.

“Pensions are for all soldiers, except those with the Agniveer tag,” he said at a public meeting in Sonipat.

A day earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “These days Rahul Gandhi is in Haryana. He has claimed that the Agniveer Scheme will destroy the lives of our youths. I urge you not to believe him because he has not understood this scheme. The Agniveer Scheme will keep our forces young,” Shah said while addressing a public meeting.

At the rally, Gandhi again mentioned that during his visit to the US, he saw 15-20 youths from Haryana living in a small room.

He blamed the BJP for snatching employment opportunities and forced them to undertake a “Dunki” journey to foreign countries while illegally travelling from Haryana to Mumbai to Istanbul to Kazakhstan to South America to Panama and finally landing in America.

“When I met people from Haryana in the US, they told me that during their journey from Haryana to the US, they have seen many people dying en route,” he said.

They talked about the unemployment back home forcing them to move to the US and face struggles in a foreign country, Gandhi said.

“Dunki” is the illegal immigration modus operandi to land in western countries.

Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier used to say that the price of a cooking gas cylinder has come down to Rs 400. “What is it now? Rs 1,200. When our government is formed, you will get it at Rs 500. You will save Rs 700 in your bank accounts. We will provide Rs 2,000 to women every month and will give MSP to farmers.”

Signalling the Congress in Haryana is united by holding the hands of top party leaders -- two-time chief minister Bhupinder Hooda and MP Hooda (Deepender Singh Hooda) and Kumari Selja -- Gandhi on Monday appealed to the voters of the state to cast vote carefully as the ruling BJP has "control over smaller parties and Independents who are seeking to split anti-BJP votes" to pave a way for the party to return to power.

Speaking at a public meeting held in Naraingarh, the hometown of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Gandhi said the BJP government has created two Hindustans in the country -- "one for the big capitalists, who are only 5 per cent, while on the other hand, India is of 95 per cent poor, labourers, farmers, Dalits and backward classes".

"The government is taking money out of the pockets of 95 per cent people," the Congress MP said.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on October 8.

While the BJP is aiming for a hat-trick this time, the Congress is aiming to come back to power in Haryana after 2014.