Live reporting: Rahul Gandhi compares Modi with Hitler

Balasinor (Gujarat): In a hard-hitting attack on Narendra Modi on his home turf, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today compared the BJP prime ministerial candidate with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Without directly naming Modi, Rahul Gandhi alluded that Modi worked like Hitler. Rahul Gandhi said: “There are two kinds of leaders. The first type belongs to those who go among people, have some ideology and believe in the knowledge of people. He goes to them, asks them and learns from them. The thinking of this kind of leader is that it is the people who are repository of knowledge. Such a leader wants to understand people and has no pride."Then there is another kind of leader, whose best example is perhaps Hitler. Hitler thought there was no need to go to people. He believed entire knowledge of the world is only in his mind. That kind of leader only talks that he did this and that. That leader does not require to go to people,” the Gandhi scion said.Deriding Modi's Gujarat development model, Rahul Gandhi said: ”Thousands of acres of land were taken but there is no employment. The below poverty line figure is pegged at Rs 11 in Gujarat but it is being publicised in the other regions of the country that Gujarat is shining. Gujarat is indeed shining but not for the poor, the women here."It is shining only for 10-15 industrialists. They are shining like gold but the houses of the poor in Gujarat are not shining,” he charged. Interacting with the audience, the Congress Vice President asked them whether they got employment after thousands of acres of land were taken from them.He also referred to the Nano car project of TATA, which shifted its base from West Bengal to Gujarat and asked them whether they are seeing the Nano cars on roads.”What kind of chowkidari (guarding) is happening in Gujarat. Lakhs of acres of land are being taken away from the farmers and being given to industrialists. When farmers say something, their voice is ignored.”Is stealing the land of farmers chowkidari. This is called theft and not chowkidari,” Gandhi said addressing a rally in Balasinor, the first destination of his tour programme.Modi has been saying in his rallies that he will work like a ‘chowkidar' of the nation's treasury if BJP government came to power.Seeking to draw a parallel between BJP's India Shining Campaign in 2004 Lok Sabha polls and its focus on Gujarat's development under Modi, Gandhi said it is being publicised in the whole country that Gujarat shines but its sheen is limited to few industrialists and the poor have not benefited from it.BJP had lost the 2004 polls and the India Shining campaign of the NDA not going down well with the electorate was attributed as one of reasons.Accusing BJP of taking credit for programmes initiated by Congress, Gandhi said in a sarcastic tone that the leaders of the Opposition party will claim after a decade that they had also brought MNREGA and Right to Food, the flagship programmes of Congress-led UPA.Maintaining that a true leader is one who goes to people, Gandhi said the job of a leader is not to give speeches but to listen to people.”That is what my effort has been. I want to listen to you, understand you. This is what the UPA government did in last ten years. We brought land acquisition bill when you said that your voice is not heard in land acquisition,” he said, adding, “what people of India want is adhikar (rights) and not chowkidar”.The Congress Vice President also hit out at BJP for attacking UPA over corruption.”The leaders from BJP talk about corruption. Three ministers in Gujarat have gone to jail in corruption cases but they were not removed from the state cabinet. There was no Lokayukta in Gujarat till the Supreme Court intervened.”They will go to Chhattisgarh and will deliver speeches against corruption. Why don't you tell your Chief Minister. They will say the same thing in Karnataka. Why did they bring back a (former) Chief Minister, who faced corruption charges.Gandhi said when Congress (Rajiv Gandhi) had talked about bringing computers in the country, two big leaders (Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani) of the BJP had said in Parliament that this will be damaging, take away jobs and will spoil the future of youths.”Ten years later, the same leaders—the number one and two in that party with Pramod Mahajan (then Telecom Minister) by their side said they brought the computer revolution in the country. The revolution by Amul was also led by us. BJP leaders were saying they did it,” he said. ”After ten years from now, leaders from BJP will come and say that they had brought MNREGA and Right to Food. BJP has no ideology, no revolutionary thinking. They have only anger, which they will give you and pit you against one another,” Gandhi said.He said UPA has worked for freight corridor projects, which are a big plan to boost infrastructure and employment. ”BJP leaders will in future claim, these were also brought by them.”Claiming that five crore people got jobs from MNREGA and 80 crore will benefit from Right to Food, he said when he raised the issue of food security in Parliament, the BJP leaders said money was being wasted.Reaching out to farmers, Gandhi said, “When your land is taken away and something is snatched from you, then there is no waste. But it is wastage for them when you are given something, when the poor is given something.”Reiterating his resolve for giving opportunities to 70 crore people falling in a category between the BPL and middle class, he said if the country has to be changed the status of the poor has to be changed.”We have the poor to the middle class level. We have lifted 15 crore people above the poverty line. Now a new class has emerged with the efforts of the UPA government. These 70 crore people, who are above BPL line and below the middle class category have to be brought above into the middle class group. Our target is to convert them into middle class,” he said. Here are the live updates of Rahul Gandhi's speech:2 pm: Rahul promises to give jobs to millions of youths if the railway network corridors are set up. Speech ends. 1:58 pm: Rahul: We plan to give reservation to women across the country in Parliament and assemblies. Taaliyan bajao bhaiya, Rahul asked youths to clap over this promise. 1:57 pm: Rahul: These leaders (BJP) go around the country speaking about corruption. They should tell us, why they took their former chief minister in Karnataka, though he was sent to jail. They should tell us, why they took the two brothers of Bellary, who looted Karntaka. It was Congress which brought RTI Act and Lokpal. One thing I want to add: We will not use people's money for marketing. 1:56 pm: Rahul: I want to ask: three ministers in Gujarat government were sent to jail. Why are they still in cabinet? Is there an RTI commissioner in Gujarat? The Lokayukta was installed only after the High Court intervened. 1:55 pm: Rahul: I raised the problems of farmers in Bhatta Parsaul in UP, whose lands were forcibly acquired. We prepared the Land Acquisition Bill, but the BJP leaders stalled it for nearly 2 years in Parliament. Finally the bill was passed. Similarly, the BJP stalled the Lokpal Bill to fight corruption. This bill was finally passed. 1:52: Rahul hits out at Modi, indirectly comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Says Rahul, there are two types of leaders: One was Gandhiji, who had a dhoti, a small chadar and a pair of chappals. He worked for the people with all humility. The other type of leader was Adolf Hitler. He thought people do not have vision. He alone had the vision and all answers to problems. He decided what the people should do. It was Hitler who used to brag, I did this and I did that. 1:50 pm: Rahul: We lifted 15 crore of people from poverty level. In the next five years, we plan to lift 70 crore people living below poverty line to middle class level. 1: 47 pm: Rahul : The Gujarat government took thousands of acres of land from poor people and gave to industrialists. They say, Gujarat is shining. Yes, it is shining. Not for the common man, but for the industrialists. Their cars, their buildings are shining. 1:45 pm: Rahul: These leaders (BJP) do not have vision, nor ideology. Their leaders have anger in their minds. Wherever they go, they spout anger and make people and communities fight each other. We believe in people's power. 1: 44 pm: Rahul: Secondly, we in Congress do something with vision. It's our leaders who introduced the vision of introducing computers. these BJP leaders opposed my father's vision of computerisation, but 10 years later their leader Pramod Mahajan claimed it was BJP which introduced computerisation. May be 10 years later, these people will claim that NREGA is their scheme. 1:43 pm: Rahul: There is difference in perception of Congress and BJP. One, We will never accept RSS and BJP leaders as our leaders. They may accept Congress leaders as their leaders. 1:42 pm: Rahul: These leaders stolen the land from poor people in Gujarat and gave it to industrialists. 1:41 pm: Rahul: He (Modi) claims he will work as a chowkidar to guard against corruption. Bahut chowkidaar dekhe hain! (I have seen so many chowkidaars). Even the British used to say they were chowkidaars, we threw them out. These leaders in Gujarat have stolen land from you. They can do chori (theft), not chowkidaari.1:40 pm: This leader (Modi) claims he wants 60 months compared to 60 years of Congress. Who created this Gujarat and India in the last 60 years, not a party, but crores of Indians who created progress. 1: 39 PM: These leaders (from BJP) claim Amul model is the development model of Gujarat . When I was a seven year old kid, I used to see Amul hoardings and posters, and these leaders claim they have created Amul model. Who created Amul model? The women of Gujarat, not these leaders .1:38 pm: Rahul: These leaders (BJP) speak of freeing India from Congress, but they are erecting the statue of Congress leader Sardar Patel. How can they eradicate a party built by Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, and then build a statue?