"If they can make 22 billionaires, we can make crores of lakhpatis": Rahul Gandhi

Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 13 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday took a jibe at PM Modi, saying if the "BJP can make 22 billionaires in the country, his party can make crores of lakhpatis".
He also expressed confidence in his party's victory in the ongoing Lok Sabha election and said Narendra Modi won't become Prime Minister on June 4.
Addressing a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "Earlier Narendra Modi used to talk about crossing 400, now he is not even talking about crossing 150. You should write this down... Narendra Modi will not become the Prime Minister of this country on 4 June."
"If they can make 22 billionaires, we can make crores of 'lakhpatis'. On June 4, a list of all the poor in India will be made, the name of a woman from each family will be selected and Rs 1 lakh will be credited to the bank account of that woman, each year..,' he added.
He accused PM Modi of imposing the Agniveer scheme on the country.
"PM Narendra Modi and his office have imposed the Agniveer scheme on the country. He wants the money that goes as pension and in the canteen facilities of Jawan to go to Adani in the form of defence contracts," he said.
He also accused Prime Minister Modi of creating two categories of 'shaheed' in the military.
"PM Narendra Modi has made two types of Jawans. One is the son of a poor, Dalit, minorities and the other is from a rich family. He has given a new name to the son of the poor, Agniveer, who won't be getting any facilities like pension, canteen...but, if you are a senior officer or one amongst the four, you'll get all those things. In the military, they have created 'two-India', two types of 'shaheed'," he said.
The Congress, on May 3, announced Rahul as a candidate from Raebareli and loyalist KL Sharma from Amethi, keeping Priyanka as well as Vadra out of the electoral contest. Sharma is pitted against Union Minister Smriti Irani, who trounced Rahul in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul since 2004, and he remained a member of Parliament from the constituency until 2019. His father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, too, was an elected member of Amethi in the Lower House from 1981 till his death in 1991.
Sonia Gandhi contested and won Amethi in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004. Before Sonia, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had won from Raebareli thrice.
Rae Bareli constituency goes to the polls on May 20 in the fifth phase.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi won the constituency, bagging 5,34,918 votes. Her closest rival, Dinesh Pratap Singh, put up a formidable challenge, gathering 3,67,740 votes.