New Delhi, (IANS): Two days after winning yet another term in the Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ruined Gujarat and was now ruining the country.
Patel, who got a fifth Rajya Sabha term in the August 8 elections from Gujarat after a tough fight from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the BJP would be defeated in the state assembly elections this year.
“Only two persons are ruling the country and the party (BJP) — you know who they are. Even BJP people are upset. One is a constitutional authority (Modi) and the other extra-constitutional authority (BJP President Amit shah),” Ahmed Patel told Youth Congress workers rallying at the Jantar Mantar here.
“All the agencies are being misused. Three years ago, when they came to power, they made big promises. They misled our youths by saying that two crore jobs will be created every year. Not a single job has been created.”
The Congress leader said the BJP had also promised farmers 50 per cent profit over their cost of production.
“Nothing has been given. They (farmers) are committing suicide. They had also promised to bring down inflation, curb corruption. But women are being exploited, there is no law and order.
“Seventy-five years back, during the Quit India Movement, Mahatma Gandhi gave the call of ‘Angrezo Bharat chodho’… We say this today — ‘BJP gaddi chodho’,” he added.
Talking about his victory, Ahmed Patel said: “This (Rajya Sabha) win has brought a new energy in the Congress. We have to utilise it. I am sure we will win Gujarat also. This is not my victory. This is your victory.
“I salute all the MLAs (who voted for me)… They were offered Rs 15 crore each, but they did not succumb.”
Congress leaders C.P. Joshi, Raj Babbar, Haryana leader Ashok Tanwar and other party leaders were present at the ‘Sansad Gherao’ programme under the party’s ‘Bharat Bachao Andolan’.
The protesters marched towards Parliament but were stopped near the Parliament Street police station where police used water cannons to disperse them.
“Around 100-150 protesters were detained,” a Congress source said. They were later released.