Adilabad (Telangana): Rahul Gandhi has added another term to the arsenal he uses to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this time calling Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhara Rao, or KCR, "mini-Modi" while accusing both of neglecting farmers.
"When there is a hail-storm or unseasonal rains, Modiji doesn't visit the farmers. Here in Telangana, 'mini-Modi' (KCR) doesn't see the farmers' plight," said the Congress vice president, in his address to farmers in drought-struck Telangana.
He told farmers, "I walked only one day in the hot sun. The farmers work every day so we can all eat.” Rahul walked almost 15 km to visit families of farmers who committed suicide in the last one year in the Adilabad district. In one village, Bondla Vasantha, whose husband killed himself last year because of debt, told Rahul that his plan to visit her had spurred the ruling Telangana Rashtriya Samiti or TRS to help her. The overwhelmed young woman fell at the Congress leader's feet.
The Congress says over 900 farmers have killed themselves in Telangana in the last 10 months. But the state government says the number is less than 100 and accuses the previous Congress government of neglecting farmers in the region. Last year, after ruling undivided Andhra Pradesh for a decade, the Congress lost elections in both the residuary Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Rahul's visit is also seen as an attempt to re-energise the party's cadres. His padyatra drew thousands of enthusiastic Congressmen from across the state.
