Congress on Tuesday claimed that the National Democratic Alliance would witness the worst ever defeat in this election and the INDIA bloc would get an absolute majority and form a government.
Addressing a rally in Siddharth Nagar, the city of Buddha, Congress national general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande said that this land, which was witness to Siddhartha’s childhood pastimes and youthful games, was most dear to him.
“Our ancestors of this city rejected religious ostentation and traditions that institutionalised prohibition, control, contempt and insult on the lives of Dalits and backward people. In its place, Buddha’s message of social equality, non-violence and compassion was adopted. Tathagata is a world man born on the land of India, whose flag is still flying from Sinhala to Siberia i.e. Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Mongolia, Tibet, China, Japan. But if his legacy is registered in the name of any part, then it is Siddharthnagar,” he said.
“Standing from this sacred land, I can say on the basis of this legacy that we will achieve a decisive victory in the war against the culture of hatred sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party. This city of Tathagata will work to put the last nail on the coffin of the forces of hatred by giving victory to the candidate of INDIA bloc,” Pande said, adding that the message of love, compassion and affection of Mahatma Buddha will be re-established in the state and country.
Pande said that the election of 2024 was against the culture of hatred at the ideological level and the message of peace and tranquility of Tathagata, Kabir, Nanak, Gandhi, Baba Saheb. “There is a war in which we will be successful only by following the path of Tathagata,” he said.
The Congress leader added that if the BJP government thinks that by locking the freedom of expression, by keeping the constitutional institutions in chains and by putting the opposition leaders in jail, the Constitution of India will end then they are not correct.
“The Constitution of India is present in the hearts of the people of this country and in their dreams. Baba Saheb’s legacy is not a paper document, it is a dream of Dalits, backward classes, minorities, half of the population, and instills confidence in them to be free from inequality, slavery and discrimination of any kind. It is impossible to erase that dream during the tenure of Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
The Congress UP in-charge said that today the Constitution was in danger, reservation was in danger, the resources of our country were also in danger. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 21 capitalist friends had accumulated wealth equal to the wealth of 50 per cent of the country’s population. “Eighty crore people are standing in line for a 5-kg ration. The country’s food provider is in distress. The promise of doubling the income of farmers by 2022 has proved to be a mere phrase. India’s farmers, who live on a daily income of Rs 27, have a debt of Rs 16,80,000 crore. Instead of waiving the loan of distressed annadatas, the Modi government is waiving the loans of its corporate friends. The youth are troubled by unemployment. Instead of filling the 30 lakh vacant government posts, outsourcing and contract culture is taking hold. Now the phrase of providing two crore jobs is not repeated by the prime minister even by mistake,” he said.
The Congress leader added that schemes like Agniveer have also posed a threat to the country’s defence. “The identity of our sisters and mothers is in danger because the BJP has been giving political protection to many leaders like Prajwal Revanna, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Chinmayanand, Kuldeep Sengar,” he said. He added: “This government is silencing the voice of dissent from the House to the streets. The public has been intimidated by the government machinery. In such an environment, Rahul Gandhi appeared before the country as a ray of hope. Through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he went among the marginalised communities in all the areas of the country and instilled confidence in them and questioned the Modi government for its wrong doings.”
On the basis of his personal experience, the Congress in-charge said that after completing a series of coordination meetings on 77 Lok Sabha seats, he could say with confidence that like the entire country, there was a wave of change in Uttar Pradesh too. “When the results come on June 4, the BJP will have to face its worst defeat in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
He appealed to make INDIA bloc candidate Kushal Tiwari victorious with huge votes. Besides Pandey, Congress national secretary Satyanarayan Patel, Ganesh Pandey, chief election manager of Samajwadi Party candidate Kushal Tiwari from Dumariyaganj Lok Sabha seat, all the office-bearers and former MLAs of the district unit of Congress and Samajwadi Party were present on the stage.
