Rahul Gandhi criticizes BJP's 'India Shining' campaign

Bhind (Madhya Pradesh), Apr 26 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Sunday criticized BJP's 'India Shining' campaign, saying so long as "there is one poor and one unemployed in the country, India cannot shine".

"In 2004, the BJP had done a campaign called 'India shining'. In India, where peasants face water problems like potable water, where there is lot of poor population and people face lot of problems and there they (BJP) have come up with this concept of India shining," Rahul Gandhi at an election rally here.

India Shining was a political slogan referring to the overall feeling of economic optimism in the country after plentiful rains in 2003 and the success of the Indian IT boom. The slogan was popularized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2004 Indian general elections.

Gandhi also urged youths to come forward and usher a change in the socio-economic scenario.

"Madhya Pradesh needs change and if change is to be brought, then youth should come forward. We have to bring new line of thought among people. We have to focus on education and heath sector. And we should never forget the poor," Gandhi added. (ANI)