This Article is From Sep 04, 2010

Full text: Rahul Gandhi reaches out to people in Bihar

Full text: Rahul Gandhi reaches out to people in Bihar
Saharsa: Congress general secretary Rahul gandhi kickstarted his bihar election campaign from Saharsa on Saturday, in an attempt to boost the party's prospects in the state.

At the rally, Rahul said despite his professed differences with Narendra Modi, Nitish had a relationship of convenience with the Gujarat chief minister. Rahul Gandhi also accused Bihar government of not passing on aid from the Centre.

Here is the full text of Rahul Gandhi's speech:

First of all, I apologise for arriving late today. I know it was inconvenient for you.

Wherever I go in India, I say one thing - if this country has to progress, then development has to come for everyone. When we got in-depth, all of India was poor. It used to be one India, but now, there are two - rich and poor. We need a country with uniform development. If you look at states, there are many which are progressing rapidly like Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and Andhra. Then there are some which are in reverse gear like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which are the biggest in this category. They're the same as they were 25 years ago; the amount of electricity produced is the same as 25 years ago. Delhi has a UPA government and they send more money to states. Nitish ji says Delhi government doesn't send money to Bihar. In rural development, NDA gave Rs 3000 crore to Bihar while the UPA gave Rs 19,000 crore. We have the NREGA programme. Money goes to Bihar but it doesn't reach the villages, it gets lost in corruption.

Crores are sent. It reaches Patna, Lucknow but vanishes from there. We have to give Bihar a government that works for the public. Money sent must be used properly. In 2004, when Congress party started work, everyone ridiculed us. Our senior leaders said that Congress cannot win in Uttar Pradesh. They said there's no point in going there. But we said that we need to go to UP to fight for the people regardless of winning in elections.

In Bihar, we want a government of the youth, of the new generation. We will not back down. We will work, and fight for the people. We will bring change here. There is an NDA government here, Nitish's government. They say they have brought development in Bihar. If that is so, then why are your people going to Delhi, Haryana, Punjab? Wherever I go, you people are there. When I go to Mumbai, Thackeray says to get people of Bihar out of here. When you are thrown out of there, does your government say anything to them? Does it fight for you?

I saw in the last election that they said they won't fight with Narendra Modi in state elections. But as soon as the elections were over, I see a picture of them together in the papers. You need a government that will fight for the poor and backward and that ensures progress for Bihar. Only the youth can bring development. The previous generation has shown what they can do. I am with you. What we did in UP, we will do here also. We will bring Congress government in both states.
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