India belongs to Hindus, not Hindutvavadis, says Cong scion
Touted as the relaunch of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress on Sunday held a mega ‘Mehengai Hatao’ rally in Jaipur addressed by Rahul, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders in the presence of party chief Sonia Gandhi. However, Sonia did not address the rally due to ill-health. Around one lakh people gathered at the venue in Jaipur and the Pink City was peppered with huge cut-outs and placards of the Gandhi family. However, Rahul got the maximum visibility on the posters, giving enough indications about the party’s effort to present him as its leader of the future.
The Congress is working to bring back Rahul as party president, a post he quit on moral grounds following the 2019 Lok Sabha election debacle. AICC sources said that the party cadre was hinting that the rally must focus only on Rahul and should be “crafted” as part of the strategy for his “installation” as the head of the party in a few months. Sonia is currently working as interim chief.
Rahul at once launched an ideological attack on the BJP, saying that Hindu and ‘Hindutvavadi’ were two different terms and that the country was of Hindus and not Hindutvavadis.
“There is a collision of two words in the politics of the country today. One word Hindu and the other word Hindutva. I am a Hindu and not a Hindutvavadi. The difference between Hindu and Hindutvavadi is that Hindu searches for the truth, it is called satyagraha but Hindutvavadi searches for power and it is called as Sattagraha,” Rahul said addressing the gathering.
“Mahatma Gandhi searched for the truth, Nathuram Godse pumped three bullets into him. He (Godse) was a Hindutvavadi. A Hindu is interested in Satyagrah. Hindutvavadi are only after power, they don’t care about the truth. A Hindutvavadi is only after Sattagrah (search for power).”
Last month, Rahul sought to differentiate between Hinduism and Hindutva at an internal meet of the party.
“Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh, or a Muslim. Hindutva, of course, is. In which book is it written? I have not seen it. I have read the Upanishads. I have not read it,” he said.
“We say there is a difference between Hindutva and Hindu religion. It is a simple logic -- if you are a Hindu then why do you need Hindutva? Why do you need this new name?” Rahul added.
Targeting the Narendra Modi Government, Rahul said, “Today one per cent of the population of India has 33 per cent wealth in their hands while 10 per cent of the population has 65 per cent of the money in their hands. And the poorest 50 per cent of the population has only six per cent of the money in their hands.”
“Those who ask what the Congress has done in 70 years, I want to ask you, leave this talk about 70 years. What have you done in the past seven years? The AIIMS, the airport from where your plane flies, the Congress built them. The BJP Government is selling what the Congress created in 70 years. This Government is working only for its industrialists,” stated Rahul.
