'Chowkidaar chor hai, Naveen Patnaik remote control hai,' says Rahul Gandhi in Odisha's Kalahandi

In a twin attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said that "chowkidar chor hai, Naveen Patnaik remote control hain." Addressing a poll rally in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, the Congress chief said that, “today there are no job opportunities in Odisha. Youth are forced to migrate to different states in search of work.” Attacking the NDA government on the multi-billion fighter jet deal, Gandhi said that while PM Modi gave people Rafale scam, Patanik gave corruption to the state.

Gandhi didn’t spare the Modi government over the Interim Budget announcements relating to the farmers. While the Centre is hailing the mega announcements, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister has promised just Rs 17 to the farmers. But the Congress will guarantee a minimum income to every person of an economically backward category. He said that if elected to power, the Congress will prove that it is ready to walk the talk and will transfer the money directly to poor people’s account.

The rally came at a time when Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari launched three major highway projects in Odisha. The projects worth Rs 2,345 crore will go a long way in ensuring speedy development in the state, Gadkari said. The projects will considerably improve connectivity of mineral-rich Angul and Dhenkanal districts with the rest of Odisha, Gadkari said while laying the foundation stone for the projects.

The Congress chief hit out at the government on the issue of unemployment and farmer distress. Gandhi dubbed PM Modi "jumla raja" (king of rhetoric) and his rule "chaupat raj" (regime of ruin).

Using Twitter to take a swipe at the prime minister, he tagged a media report on the unemployment situation in Uttar Pradesh, claiming that youth with even PhD degrees are applying for class IV jobs. "Farmers do not get the right prices, the youth do not get the right jobs, in 'jumla raja's chaupat raj', no hard working person gets respect," the Congress chief said in a tweet in Hindi. 

Gandhi has been highly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of unemployment and has often accused him of not fulfilling his promise -- before coming to power-- of providing two crore jobs per year to the youth.

The Congress chief has also attacked PM Modi for not providing adequate prices to farmers for their produce.