Bhubaneswar, May 15 : Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged the voters in Odisha to save the Constitution by voting in large numbers for the INDIA bloc.





While addressing a public gathering at Bolangir constituency, Gandhi said that the biggest issue in this election is to save the Constitution and the ideas propounded by B.R. Ambedkar, and Mahatma Gandhi.



He said if the constitution ends then the rights of common people, their land, the reservation system, and public sector firms will also come to an end.



Gandhi warned the people that the country would be controlled by 22 billionaires following the 'destruction' of the Constitution.



'For the first time, a political party has said to the country that if it wins then it will destroy the Constitution. Whatever the poor, Dalits, minorities, tribals, farmers and labourers have secured, it was given because of the Constitution. BJP senior leaders are saying that they will tear this book (Constitution). I want to say to every BJP worker and leader that none in the world can dare to touch the Constitution,' said Gandhi.



He said that the BJP leaders also boast about ending reservation, the weapon provided to Dalits, Adivasis, and backward people by Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru.



Gandhi said that as soon as the INDIA alliance forms the government at the Centre on June 4, wages under the MGNREGS will be increased to Rs 400, salaries of Anganwadi and Asha workers will be doubled, 30 lakh vacant government sector posts will be filled by the Congress.



He also reiterates the party's promise to ensure a guaranteed job to every fresh graduate and diploma holder in the first year. Besides, a total of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 8500 every month, will be deposited in the account of unemployed youths along with world-class skill training facilities, and the loans of farmers will be waived off.



'After the INDIA bloc forms government, a list of poor people including Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, poor general caste people, farmers, and labourers will be prepared. One woman member will be selected from each of the poor families from the list and the woman member of the family will find Rs 8,500, as monthly instalments of a total of Rs 1 lakh, deposited in their bank accounts from July 4 onwards,' he said.



The senior Congress leader said that the 50 per cent backward class people, 15 per cent Dalits, eight per cent adivasis, 15 per cent minorities, and five per cent poor general caste people don't have any share in any sector, business, media, or government.



He said the government in Delhi is run by 90 IAS officers out of which only three are Dalits and one belongs to the Adivasi tribe.



'We mentioned caste census in our manifesto through which the poor, Dalits, Adivasis and poor among the general caste people will ascertain their actual population and their share in the country. It will expose the number of backward class, Dalit, Adivasi and poor general caste people in Media, big companies, government, public sector,' Gandhi said.



The Congress leader alleged that the public sector has been sold to capitalists by the BJP government.



'They (BJP government) only worked for the billionaires. The BJP has waived off the loans of 22 richest people amounting to Rs 16 lakh crore rupees that equal to the 24 years of funds for the MGNREGA scheme,' he said.



He accused the BJP of not giving anything to people, nor waiving off loans of farmers, students or small traders.



Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi did not say anything against the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in his speech.



/IANS