Rahul Gandhi joins Goa yatra, accuses BJP of corruption

Rahul Gandhi joined the concluding programme of the Congress’s Goy Rakhonn Yatra in Margao on October 18, accusing Goa’s BJP government of corruption and alleging that land was being taken from residents for wealthy businessmen. The allegations were made during a public outreach campaign that had covered all 40 Assembly constituencies. Gandhi said Goa might be the most corrupt state in India and described it as a model for corruption. He also accused the BJP government, led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, of using the same approach in other states. The claims were political allegations made by Gandhi; the reports did not provide independent evidence substantiating them. He further accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of implementing what Gandhi called vote theft, Union Home Minister Amit Shah of operationalising it and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of orchestrating it. These, too, were Gandhi’s accusations. He said he faced more than 45 defamation cases and claimed none specifically concerned his allegations of vote theft. At the Margao event, Gandhi walked with Congress workers and party leaders. The yatra began on September 22 and concluded on October 18....