I am quite happy today that we have given homes to many of our sisters and their families. For different reasons, they had setbacks in their life, they were struggling and I am happy that the Congress leaders, Congress workers have got together and given them shelter. Just now, I told Shri Venugopal that I think, in next round of houses, all the Congress leaders including me, should be involved in building them. I think one of the big changes that we have to make in our country is respect and dignity of our labour.
So, I think, it’s a good signal if we build these houses, put some bricks, may we do some painting and show the people of Wayanad and the people of the country that the physical labour is valuable and is dignified. Many of us live in houses but, we never ask the questions, who built this house, who put these bricks, who built this wall, who painted the wall and who setup the structure and I think, it is a very important question to ask. When we first discussed this project among our leaders, there was quite a lot of enthusiasm and they were quite excited about doing this with the people of Wayanad.
We chose the name ‘Kaithangu’ which means helping hand in your beautiful Malayalam. And there were many challenges. It looks quite simple, but, there were many challenges in this project. How to choose the beneficiaries, because there were so many. Houses built in difficult terrain, with hills, with poor roads, and because we want to build as many houses as possible, we wanted to keep the cost quite low but, without compromising on the minimum requirement and the quality.
So, I am quite happy today that we have been able to give 25 families a place to stay. And I was also quite happy and I had promised them a house, so I was quite happy that I was able to fulfill that promise. So, I would like to thank ………. (inaudible) for the project and who supported us. I also like to thank the people of Wayanad, who helped us to complete these houses and fulfill a dream for these 25 families. I would very much like that the people of Wayanad help us with this project and help us to give as many houses as possible to people, who are struggling for shelter and to the beneficiaries, I would like to say, we know that you have struggled for the last few years and we also understand that giving you shelter is not going to solve your problems.
But we want you to know that we are very proud of you, of the dignity with which you have faced your difficulties. I would also like to say that in choosing the beneficiaries, we have not looked at political consideration at all. For us, all the people of Wayanad are our family and anybody who is in trouble, we would proudly help.
Today, I held the meeting, which we hold periodically about development in the constituency – DISHA meeting. I also went to see the family of a young man, who was killed by a tiger. They told me that there should be a proper medical facility here, medical college here. We have written to the Chief Minister, we have raised this issue, it is taking so long to develop a medical college in Wayanad.
For us, this is not a political issue, it is a humanitarian issue. The Chief Minister should view it in that manner and he should expedite the building of a medical college in this constituency. I mentioned to you about the man-animal conflict and again hundreds of people are killed by animals in our constituency, (inaudible)…… human beings and animals. You are all aware of the buffer zone issue. We are happy that the Supreme Court is taking cognisance and looking into the matter but, it is also important that this issue is resolved, as soon as possible. I am told that no properties are being bought and sold there and I think it’s important that we allow people to take advantage of their properties.
Throughout the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, I met farmers who are unhappy….. (inaudible). I think it’s very important that both the national government and the state government support our farmers and develop a strategy for the productive class, for the farming class in India. When I say farmers, I also include the labourers who work on their farms.
Few days ago, I gave a speech in Parliament about the relationship between our Prime Minister and Mr Adani. I spoke in the most polite, respectful tone. I did not use any bad language, I did not abuse anybody, I just raised certain facts. I pointed it out, how Mr Adani travelled with the Prime Minister to foreign countries and then immediately, after that, he was rewarded by getting contracts in these countries. I showed how 30 percent of the airport traffic is today controlled by Mr Adani, simply because he has a relationship with the Prime Minister. I spoke about how the rules were changed so, that Mr Adani could get these airports. Earlier, the people who did not have experience in running airports were not allowed to participate and the rules were changed to allow Mr Adani to participate.
The NITI Aayog, other institutions commented on this and said, he should not be allowed, but, he was still allowed. An official in Sri Lanka stated in a meeting in Sri Lanka, in a public hearing that the President of Sri Lanka told him that Mr Modi had pressurised to give a contract to Mr Adani in Sri Lanka.
Immediately after, the Prime Minister went to Bangladesh, Mr Adani gets a contract from Bangladesh. Mr Adani and the Prime Minister go to Australia, the State Bank gives a loan of 1 billion dollars to Mr Adani for a mining project. The biggest- most strategic airport Mumbai airport was taken over by Mr Adani after agencies threatened the people, who ran the airport. After I gave the speech, most of my speech was edited out and was not allowed to go on record of the Parliament.
Apparently, saying the name Adani and Ambani together is to insult the Prime Minister of India. But you can see pictures of them together all across the internet. You can see the Prime Minister flying in Mr Adani’s plane. You can see him relaxing, laughing with Mr Adani inside his plane. Mr Adani travels on delegations with the Prime Minister to foreign countries. He magically arrives in foreign countries, when the Prime Minister is there. And nothing that I said was untrue, it was all factual and anybody can go on the internet, go to Google and ask the questions, I have asked and you will find over there. According to the rules, a speech can be removed from the record, if you are saying something without support or if you are insulting someone.
I did not insult anybody. I used the kindest language, the most-polite language, everything I said, was based on proof. I was asked to show proof with regard to what I said and I have written a letter to the Speaker with every single point that they have removed and the supporting proof. But I don’t expect that my words will be allowed to go on the record.
At the same time, the Prime Minister directly insults me. He says, why is your name Gandhi and not Nehru, so the Prime Minister of the country directly insults me, but, his words are not taken off the record, but, it does not matter because the truth always comes out. All you had to do was look at my face, when I was speaking and look at his face, while he was speaking. Look at how many times, he drank water, how his hands were shaking, when he was drinking water and you will understand everything.
He doesn’t realise that the absolute last thing, I am scared of is Narendra Modi. It doesn’t matter, whether he is the Prime Minister of India, whether he has all the agencies, doesn’t matter, because the truth is not on his side and one day, he will be forced to face his truth.
So, I would like to thank all of you. If you get a chance, see the Parliament speech because it is important that you understand, what is going on in the country. It is important that you understand the nexus between the Prime Minister and Mr Adani. There is a list of wealthy people in the world and in 2014, Mr Adani was 609th on that list and from 609th on that list, he became 2nd on the list. He got all the airports, the ports, defence contracts, coal contracts, mining contracts, road contracts, agriculture, every industry Mr Adani is set to monopolise. There are shell companies abroad, that are sending thousands of crores of rupees into India and nobody knows, whom these shell companies belong to.
The question, is whom does this money belongs to, that is in these shell companies, that is coming into India. I asked the Prime Minister some questions about his relationship with Mr Adani. I asked him about how Mr Adani has grown so fast. The Prime Minister did not answer a single question. His response to my questions was, why are you not called Nehru, why are you called Gandhi, because generally, I don’t know, maybe Mr Modi doesn’t understand this, but generally in India, our surname is the surname of our father.
So, I would like to thank all of you for coming here, it always a pleasure for me to come here, you know, when I was on the Yatra, I said to some journalists in Kashmir that I felt, when I walked into Kashmir that I was coming home. I said, when I went to Kashmir, I told some of the journalists who asked me what are you feeling, I said, I am feeling as if I have come home. But after walking 3,500 kilometres, I just came back to Wayanad, I am also feeling as, If I have come home.
I really appreciate that you don’t treat me like a political leader, that you treat me like a family member. It is the most valuable thing that you do for me, more important than the votes, is that you treat me like a family. So, thank you so much and I have to also bring my mother here, soon.