Jobs, inflation, justice for poor to be clinchers in Maha polls: Rahul Gandhi

Mumbai, Nov 18 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that inflation, justice for the poor, unemployment, women and farmers’ woes will prove to be the prime game-changers in the much-anticipated November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Speaking to media persons on the final day of the polls campaign, he said that the problems of the masses with their shattered dreams would weigh on the minds of the voters on Wednesday.

Rahul Gandhi cited how Maharashtra’s wealth and resources are being taken away to other states, thereby depriving the Marathi youth of jobs and hampering the state’s progress.

Flanked by senior state and central Congress leaders, he listed out several mega-projects worth a total of Rs 7 lakh crore which were shifted out of Maharashtra to other states and more than five lakh jobs for the youth here have also gone, in the past few years. He also named the companies saying that planned investments could have created major job opportunities for the unemployed youth in this state.

The Congress bigwig reiterated the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Manifesto -- released on November 10, and inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s vision -- which promised a bagful of goodies for all sections of society to uplift the poor, women, peasants, youth and the ill people.

“Like Telangana and Karnataka, we shall conduct a caste census in Maharashtra. It’s a major concern before the country and the central pillar of our strategy. At least 50 per cent of the population has absolutely no participation in the government or private sector, and we need to know this,” declared Rahul Gandhi.

Simultaneously, the MVA shall implement a Rs 25 lakh health insurance scheme for the state that will take care of the medical needs of the people, on the lines of a similar one successfully implemented by the Congress in Rajasthan, he assured.

To a query on financing these initiatives, Rahul Gandhi confidently asserted that “we have made all the financial calculations for these schemes and there will be definitely no problems in implementing them immediately,” adding that the party will share it with anybody who wishes to check the same.

Rahul Gandhi also vowed that after the MVA government is voted to power, it will work with dedication for the interests of the people of Maharashtra and Mumbai.