Rahul slams BJP, says party wants to vest power in one person

Aurangabad: In a veiled attack on Narendra  Modi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the BJP wants to vest power in the hands of "one person", and asserted  that his party will drive out BJP like it forced out  Britishers from India.     

"It is not one person but crores of people who run the country. We want to empower you but BJP wants to hand over power to one man," Rahul said, addressing a public rally here. "BJP leaders who call themselves Hindu haven't read the Gita. Had they opened it, they would have realised that Congress party is not just an organisation but an ideology and no one can touch it," he said.  "Those who tried to erase that ideology were driven out of the country. It was not the Congress but its ideology which defeated the British. The way Congress drove Britishers out with love, in the same way, Congress will drive out BJP," he said. 

The Congress leader also launched a veiled attack on BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying, "In Gujarat, three corrupt ministers are sitting in the Cabinet but their leader doesn't see corruption."  "They (BJP) speak of corruption but when their CM goes to jail in Karnataka, they don't see corruption," Rahul said.    

"It was BJP which tired to stall the Lokpal Bill," he said. "During the UPA regime, the number of roads built was three times bigger than during the NDA regime," Rahul said, speaking of the achievements of the Congress-led government at the Centre. "Our opponents do not know India's history," he said.

"Sometimes, the only work a leader does is to come, address a rally and leave. But the truth is, a leader has to come and listen to problems of people, specially the poor and women," Rahul said.

"A leader can't usher in change unless he goes to people.  It is my endeavour that I always go to people with a bowed head," he said.   "Women tell me that the number of faces of women that should be seen in state Legislature and Parliament is not there," Rahul said.    

"Guru Nanak taught us to love, taking everyone along.  There is no need of violence. This is what Quran Sharif, Gita  and Gandhiji have said," Rahul said.  Calling the working class and women as the backbone of India, Rahul said his party will focus on them. The industrial corridor project will usher in a manufacturing revolution, the Congress leader claimed. 

"Now, the maximum manufacturing takes place in China.  In time to come it will be in India and will provide jobs to  lakhs of youth," he said.              Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, a prominent Congress  leader from Marathwada region who was charge sheeted in the  Adarsh housing society scam, was also on stage.