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Poorest should dream biggest: Rahul Gandhi

‘If poor cannot see the biggest dreams, then we are not interested in politics,’ Rahul said.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday once again told the people to ?dream big? in the backward and tribal-dominated Baran, some 250 km from Jaipur, in Rajasthan, which will go to polls in few months from now.

Rahul to tribals: Rich India vs Poor India… I am your soldier

Addressing a crowd of over 1.5 lakh, Rahul said he wanted the ?poorest to dream the biggest dreams?. Pointing to a group of women in the crowd, he said: ?There those women should not just see aeroplanes in the sky but also be able to dream that one day their sons will be flying those planes. We (Congress) say the poorest should see the biggest dreams and not just be on the fringes, marginalised and helplessly watching the rich flying in aeroplanes and travelling in big cars. That is what the Opposition wants… If the poor cannot see the biggest dreams, then we are not interested in politics. Our politics is to further your dreams.?

Related: Institute quotes Rahul Gandhi as saying poverty is ‘just a state of mind’

His message about dreams was similar to what he had said a week ago as he sounded the poll bugle in the tribal-dominated Salumbar, near Udaipur.

Elimination of poverty India’s biggest task: Rahul Gandhi

Striking a conversation with the crowd, Rahul asked: ?Gareebi ka sabse bada karan kya hai? (What is the main cause of poverty?)? When someone replied ?unemployment?, he refuted and said: ?Not unemployment but illness.? ?In our country, the poor goes to work for two days and then he misses a few days of work because he falls ill and is unable to get proper treatment. But in Rajasthan, they (Congress government) have come up with a great scheme of free medicines and health check-up. We will take this scheme to the rest of the country.? he added.

Related: Let?s stop this poverty tourism

Taking a dig at the Opposition, Gandhi said, ?When we had initially proposed the food security Bill, land acquisition Bill and the NREGA, the Opposition laughed at us and said it was impossible. We have made those proposals a reality.?

Rahul, who was in the area to lay the foundation stone of a river dam project and inaugurate power plants, made a veiled attack on BJP?s Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi by saying: ?Anybody can claim I will give this and I will do that, but we have done it and showed it to you already.?

In the last Assembly elections, the Congress fared reasonably well in the Hadoti region comprising Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran by winning 10 of the 17 seats. The two Lok Sabha seats in the region are shared by the Congress and the BJP.

In the days ahead, the Congress has lined up a series of inaugurations and has roped in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. On September 21, Singh will lay the foundation stone for an airport at Kishangarh and the underground section of Phase II of Jaipur Metro. On September 22, Sonia will lay the foundation stone for an oil refinery in Barmer.

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First published on: 18-09-2013 at 11:56 IST
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