'One man, one model' approach won't help: Rahul Gandhi's dig at Narendra Modi

Thiruvananthapuram: Firing a fresh salvo at Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said his "one man, one model" approach, trying to make people believe that he has answers to all their problems, will not cut ice as the voters have become more knowledgeable.

Delay in announcement of the BJP manifesto also showed that it bothered little about the people, Gandhi said. BJP is slated to announce its manifesto for Lok Sabha polls on Monday.

"The BJP has not even produced a manifesto. They really don't care what you think. They do not respect you. They believe that one man has all the answers and he does not listen to anybody and he believes he knows everything", Gandhi, on a whirlwind campaign tour across Kerala, said at a rally at Chengannur in Mavelikkara constituency.

"While they follow one man one model", the Congress took the entire people into confidence as it believed that "people have the knowledge and they know what they want."

"They (the BJP) believe this one man knows everything in the universe. And also, this one man has the answer to every problem... everything, all the powers belong to one man."

Attacking BJP's economic and social policies, he said "its idea of India shining is to empower five to six businsses and give all your resources to them. It is the idea of taking from the poor and giving it to the rich."

Emphasising that the Congress was committed to empowering all sections, he said this was reflected well in its manifesto which was prepared after eliciting the views of the people from all over the country.

"The Congress took six months to prepare its manifesto after interacting with all sections - youth, dalits, women. I myself attended 30 of such conversations and asked them what they would like to have in the manifesto and we produced a manifesto of the people of the country."

Ticking off the Left, Gandhi said, "they follow a policy of distributing poverty and is against industrialisation and develoment."

"They want fairness and equity. But they sacrifice growth and want to remain everybody poor."

Taking on the CPI(M) for indulging in politics of violence, Gandhi said "violence and intimidation should not have any role in politics."

Starting from the northernmost Kasargode and winding up at Attingal near the state capital, Gandhi said the current round of elections were fought around three different ideas represented by "the Congress, the Left and the right."

The idea of the Congress was that fruits of progress should be distributed to all. "We believe in growth. We also believe that everybody in the country should benefit from growth."

"We want to take all relgions, castes, states together. We do not believe that people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar should be thrown out of Maharashtra. We believe you should have the choice of how you live," he said.

Elaborating the achievements of the UPA in the last decade, he said the regime had been able to bring up more people from the poverty line than what the previous NDA had done during its rule.

Speaking at Kattappana in Idukki, where the report on the Western Ghats has caused concern among the settler farmers, he said the Congress would not do anything that would cause hardship to the people.

Recalling intiatives like Right to Information and Food Security, Gandhi said if voted to power the UPA would guarantee the rights for healthcare and shelter to all.

Targetting the youth, he said 10 crore new jobs would be created through the industrial corridor projects linking various parts of the country.

Lavishing praises on Kerala for empowering women and youth, especially through local bodies, he said, "my dream is to see that all the Indians get the power as the people of Kerala have."