Blaming parties which had ruled Uttar Pradesh in the last 20 years for its backwardness, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the picture of the state would change in the next five years if the Congress comes to power.
Addressing a public meeting on the last day of his tour, he alleged that while the Centre was sending funds for welfare programmes like MNREGA, they were not reaching the common people because of corruption.
Terming MNREGA as the biggest employment-oriented scheme in the world, Rahul alleged that when the scheme was launched, Chief Minister Mayawati termed it as unnecessary and said that it would not benefit the people.
Under MNREGA, 100 days employment is assured at the rate of Rs 120 per day, that means Rs 12,000 per annum, he pointed out.
Despite this, Mayawati termed it as useless and said that it would not benefit anyone, he said.
"What she said was right. People have not been benefited by MNREGA here as all the money went into the pockets of ministers and officers," he alleged.
Citing the example of Congress-ruled states, Rahul said that while they progressed, people from UP were forced to go to other states like Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi for work.
He alleged that present-day politicians do not visit villages, eat with the people and drink water from their wells and, therefore, are unaware about the problems of the public.
Referring to shortage of fertilisers and urea, Gandhi said that adequate quantity of these items was being sent by the Centre, but it was being "black marketed and farmers have to stand in queue and pay double prices".
He said that the people of UP, which was once the backbone of the country's economy, were being forced to work in Maharashtra and Punjab because they have no work in their own state.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi visited the residence of a Delhi-based journalist Manoj Tibrewal Akash in Maharajganj and extended him greetings on his wedding. He invited Tibrewal and his bride Rani Sarraf to his residence in Delhi.
