JAGDALPUR, BASTAR, Sep 26 (TOI) : Mounting a caustic attack on the BJP, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said his party's aim is to empower tribals and the poor by vesting powers in their hands but the opposition party thinks that "one man can run the nation".
For the first time after the May 25 Maoist attack that eliminated frontline Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhi flew to Jagdalpur to attend a tribal convention which was attended by all the senior Congress leaders in the state.
" We believe that nation is run by the people", he said without naming anyone while addressing an impressive tribal convention in Bastar where frontline Congress leaders of Chhattisgarh were killed in a Maoist bloodbath three months ago.
"My firm belief is that in politics there are two types of people. One who fight for the people for their larger interests while others are who fight for themselves", he said again, without naming anyone.
Exhorting the tribal youth of Bastar to come forward in mainstream politics and fight for the issues of poor and their tribal brethren, stressing that he would remain firmly with them in any such efforts. He said it would help the people of the area to come forward and participate in the process of development.
The Congress scion began his speech in Bastar, making a direct reference to the May 25 Maoist attack in Bastar and recalling how the then PCC chief Nandkumar Patel, who was among those killed, had apprised him that the people in Chhattisgarh were eagerly waiting for change in the government.
All leaders of the faction ridden Congress were present at the public meeting, almost for the first time after infighting broke out just three months after the killing of senior party leaders in the Bastar Maoist attack.
Addressing a massive tribal rights convention in Bastar in Chhattisgarh, he said Congress had brought a number of landmark legislations aimed at empowering the people at various levels. He said the Food Security Act, RTI, Land Acquisition Act and Right To Education (RTE) Act were all aimed at empowerment.
Rahul Gandhi said his party always believed that any government is run by the people hence it wants to transfer the power into the hands of the poor and the downtrodden.