Nagpur, Mar 24 (NIE): Patidar leader Hardik Patel said here on Friday that the country wasn’t in safe hands and that the youths and farmers, who had trusted Modi, are paying a heavy price for it. Patel was talking to mediapersons at Deekshabhoomi after paying tribute at the memorial of Babasaheb Ambedkar, who had embraced Buddhism along with lakhs of followers here in 1956.
On his maiden visit to Vidarbha, Patel had stopped briefly at Nagpur before heading for Akola to address a youth rally organised by the Vidarbha Youth Forum.
“When I was landing at Nagpur airport, I was looking at the drought-affected landscape from the sky. I also felt that the lives of all passengers were at the mercy of the pilot. But he landed us safely. But the same can’t be said about the country’s pilot, as the country is hurtling towards disaster and the destiny of 120 crore Indians is not in safe hands,” Patel said.
Speaking about his chances of entering electoral politics, Patel taunted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, “I am a proud Gujarati who would never seek people’s sympathy to achieve power by wearing poverty and lower class origins on my sleeves. I would continue to raise my voice against injustice and lies in a democratic way. I draw this power from Ambedkar’s teaching and I am not afraid of anyone in my struggle on behalf of the right people.”
Patel said, “Where are the two crore promised jobs, are the farmers getting anywhere close to doubling their incomes? Are they getting crop loans at 4 per cent interest? And are they getting crop insurance?”
Asked if his agitation had brought any benefit to the Patidar community, Patel said, “The agitation was to spread awareness. I realised that such agitations can’t bring immediate solutions. But here I have come to see the condition of distressed farmers and jobless youths. They all trusted Modi in 2014, and are paying a heavy price for it.”
In a potshot at Modi, he said, “During the 2014 poll campaign, we were told that the nation was being looted by some 30,000 billionaires. Now, 23,000 of them have escaped from the country.”