Rahul Gandhi on Saturday avoided any reference to the Trinamul Congress during his first election tour of Goa, describing the contest as an ideological battle between the BJP and the Congress.

Other Congress leaders have made passing references to a “party from Bengal” (Trinamul) and another “from Delhi” (AAP) but Rahul mentioned neither, ignoring Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s acerbic attack on the Congress.

Mamata, also in Goa, accused the Congress of suffering from indecision and thereby strengthening the hands of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress doesn’t want to recognise Trinamul’s intervention in Goa and give credence to the claims about a triangular fight.

At all the three interactions he had during the day, Rahul persisted with his unifocal attack on Modi.

Alleging that Goa’s being turned into a coal hub was meant to benefit the Adani group, he accused Modi of pursuing an agenda to hand over the entire country to a few industrialists.

Rahul said: “These are not random events. There is a systematic plan in operation to attack the unorganised sector and small businesses so as to hand over everything to five-six biggest business houses.”

Rahul Gandhi hitches a ride on Goa’s motorcycle taxi called Pilot from Bambolim to Azad Maidan in Panaji. PTI photo

“While five-six people are benefiting in every sector — ports, coal, airport, agriculture, retail, telecom — the lives of millions and millions are destroyed.”

Rahul added: “A national tragedy is unfolding. The media is a friend of the government; it portrays a distorted reality. The Chinese have grabbed India’s territory, as big a space as Delhi, and the Prime Minister says nobody has entered.

“The nation is divided; hate is being spread everywhere. Their goal is to help their friends no matter if India burns. The farm laws are designed to harm the farmers, the GST was designed to harm small and medium businesses. India’s backbone is being broken.”

The main banner at the Congress workers’ convention read: “Only goal — say no to coal.”

“We will not allow Goa to become a coal hub. We will not destroy Goa’s environment. We can develop Goa and create employment opportunities by making it an education and healthcare hub and promoting tourism,” Rahul said.

“Don’t see this as an election, this is a fight for the future of Goa, where people can live in peace and communicate with others with love and affection.”

At an earlier interaction with the fishing community, Rahul had said that unlike many other leaders, he attached importance to credibility and would therefore not make false promises.

Environmental issues dominated the conversation. Most of the questions were about the transport of coal, doubling of railway lines and environmental degradation.

Rahul promised that the Congress wouldn’t allow any reckless exploitation of resources that can damage the environment.

Responding to questions about local concerns at motorised boats coming from outside to corner the bulk of the fish, he said: “Unlike many other leaders, my credibility is important to me. I won’t make promises that I can’t fulfil.

“Our manifestos are guarantees; we fulfil our promises. You can go to Chhattisgarh and Punjab and ask people whether we have delivered on our manifestos. And our manifestos reflect people’s concerns and aspirations.”

He added: “There should be a balance between development and environment. There should be a balance between the big fishermen and small fishermen. The balance should be in favour of the poor and the locals.”

Rahul said the difference between the BJP and the Congress was: “We unite, we know that every citizen must be given space, everybody will have to be taken together. The BJP spreads hatred and divides people.”