Shri Gandhi said on Saturday that when efforts were being made to snatch away the land owned by tribals in Niamgiri in Orissa, the Congress went there and fought for them. He said that the Congress would fight for the rights of tribals in Uttar Pradesh too.

Addressing a rally in Sonebhadra on Saturday , he said that LATE Indira Gandhi fought for the rights of tribals and he would fight for the same till he achieved the goals. Shri Gandhi said that the tribals came to him and said that they wanted a law for themselves and we gave them the tribal law which is in force across the country.He asked the crowd to raise their hands if anyone of them had benefited from the law. When no one raised a hand, Shri Gandhi said, “See in this state, no one has benefited.” Targeting the BSP and BJP, h said that in 2004, when the Congress formed government, the party did not talk about India Shining. “If their leaders had come to tribal areas and met the tribal women, they would not have found that India was shining,” he said.

Shri Gandhi said that the first thing that the Congress did was to launch MNREGA because we came to you and understood your problems. You told us that employment was your major problem and if you could get employment in your village, it would be better. We made sure that if anyone wanted work, he would be given 100 days work in his village and be paid Rs 120 per day which added up to Rs 12,000 per year.

Shri Gandhi further said that UP chief minister Mayawati had denounced the scheme and said that it will not benefit anyone while the BJP asked where the money for this would come from. Whenever we talk of schemes for the poor, they raise these questions but not when the benefit has to be given to the rich. We have shown them that there is money for the poor.

Talking about farmers, Shri Gandhi said that the Congress gave the loan waiver scheme worth Rs 60,000 crore for farmers but the opposition termed it as ‘natak.’ He said that he was shocked to find that leaders in UP had no vision and no thought for development — all they knew was to practice the politics of communalism and casteism. Earlier, while addressing a public rally in Bara in Allahabad, Shri Gandhi said that the Samajwadi Party had announced that it would distributed free laptops if voted to power. “But

who will believe this party that unleashes a reign of chaos and anarchy when it comes to power,” he said.

Shri Gandhi said that he would not rest until every farmer gets food to eat and until prosperity reaches his doorstep.