By IANS,
Chaygaon (Assam) : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday kicked off his election campaign in Assam by launching a blistering attack on the opposition and calling upon the young voters to vote on the basis of development and progress.
“Progress and peace are the two important things for the overall development and well being of any state and I am saying with authority that the Congress government in Assam during the past 10 years did change the face of Assam in many ways,” Gandhi told a massive election meeting at Chaygaon on the outskirts of the state’s main city of Guwahati.
Gandhi addressed three election rallies in the state Tuesday at Chaygaon, Mazbat and Raha. All the three Congress candidates are young leaders in the age group of 30 to 35.
“My appeal to the youth of Assam is to give the Congress party another chance so that the pace of development does not get retarded. The opposition parties do not have any contact with the people, while we work hand in hand with the ‘aam aadmi’ (commoners),” Gandhi said amid cheers from the crowd.
He said the opposition in Assam wants only power and hence is active during the elections.
“We are a mass based party and concerned about the welfare of the people and I am proud to say that the various welfare schemes initiated by the central government had brought us closer to the rural areas instead of being an urban based party,” Gandhi said.
The second phase of elections in 64 of the 126 assembly seats is scheduled April 11. The first phase vote ended peacefully Monday with an estimated 70 percent polling recorded.