“You Can’t Change Idea Of India”: Rahul Gandhi To BJP And RSS

Kannur (Kerala), April 18: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today told the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh that they were simply wasting their time by trying to change the idea of India. “You cannot do that, you are wasting your time and the time of millions of people across India”, Gandhi told them at a public rally here today, while adding, “you are harming people by creating disharmony and trying to divide them”.

Asserting that the BJP and the RSS do not understand the idea of India that is based on its colourful diversity, Gandhi picked up a bouquet of flowers that was lying on the table and illustrated how the flowers of different colours added to the beauty of that bouquet.

“Our country is like this beautiful bouquet of flowers with different colours”, he remarked, amidst thundering applause and cheers from the crowd, saying, the BJP people cannot understand it.

He said, the BJP was trying to change this and they simply cannot do that. They are wasting their time and the time of the people of the country. He said, the Congress and the United Democratic Front accept India’s diversity, while the BJP wanted to impose one history, one nation, one language on the people of India and this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what India is.

The former Congress president said, it is for the first time in modern history that the constitution and democracy are under threat. He said, no party that was in power before has tried to do what the BJP was trying to do now.

He said, the constitution is the foundation of modern India that gives our people rights and equal opportunities. He observed, the constitution is protected by the institutions of our country like the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the Election Commission, the police, the intelligence agencies etc. “By capturing each one of these institutions and using these as political weapons BJP is changing the very nature of these institutions”, he remarked,

Taking a dig at the Kerala Chief Minister Pinayari Vijayan over his claims of fighting ideological battle against the BJP, Gandhi said, he knows what the BJP does with the people who fight ideological battles against them as he was himself fighting an ideological battle against the BJP round the clock.

He pointed out how he was thrown out of the parliament after his membership was cancelled, how his official residence was taken away and how he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for 55 hours.

But, he asked, “why none of this is happening to the CM of Kerala? Why is his membership not being taken away? Why is his house not being taken away? Why is he not being interrogated by the ED, the CBI or the IT”.

Pointing out that two Chief Ministers were in jail, he asked, how come this is not happening to the Chief Minister of Kerala? He said, it is not that there are not reports of corruption in Kerala and why nothing is happening here. He said, this is something very puzzling that the people of Kerala need to think about.

Gandhi listed the promises that the Congress party has made for the youth, women and farmers among other things.

He said, unemployment under Modi was the worst and it was highest in 45 years. He said, there were 30 lakh government vacancies, which Modi was refusing to fill. He said, these vacancies will be immediately filled. Besides, all fresh graduates will get the Right to Apprenticeship for one year during which they will get Rs one lakh. He said, the young entrepreneurs will be offered bank loans.

For farmers, he said, there will be legal guarantee for the MSP and the pricing of crops will not be used as a weapon against them.

For women, he said, one woman each in every poor family will get Rs one lakh every year.