Wrapping up the Punjab leg of his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ with a massive rally at Pathankot, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed his liking for Bhagwant Mann saying that Punjab Chief Minister was different from his Delhi counterpart and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. The assertion, virtually aimed at sowing the seeds of discontentment, came as Rahul Gandhi coaxed Mann to function independently, uninfluenced by Kejriwal.
Reiterating his earlier advice to Mann to “run Punjab from Punjab”, Rahul Gandhi alleged that it was being run through “RC”, while referring to “remote control” and also Raghav Chadha — the party’s state unit co-in-charge.
Rahul Gandhi maintained that AAP supremo Kejriwal and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha are the ones who call the shots in Punjab, which was “not right”. At the same time, he made it clear that this was not his observation, but this was what he got to know during his yatra in Punjab.
“You sat with me in the Lok Sabha…You and Kejriwal are different. I respect you and I am saying this from the stage of Congress party…But, Punjab shouldn’t be run from Delhi,” Rahul Gandhi said to Mann while addressing the party rally.
“I will tell you why I am saying this…I asked a farmer (during yatra) what AAP’s new government has done…and he replied that it is a remote control government…I didn’t like this….Congress will fight with AAP in Punjab, and we will defeat them, that is another thing….But when a farmer says that it is a remote-controlled government and I ask him what does he mean by remote control, he said Raghav Chadha…means RC…this is not right,” said Rahul Gandhi.
Continuing his attack on AAP for allegedly using Punjab’s money on advertisements during the Gujarat assembly polls last year, he said: “It is wrong to spend money of Punjab’s people in Gujarat…I am saying this again. I like Bhagwant Mann ji…..But Punjab should be run from Punjab.”
Notably, on January 16 in Hoshiarpur, Rahul Gandhi had stated that Mann should not become remote control of anyone and should run the state independently, drawing a sharp reaction from the Punjab Chief Minister.
Retorting, Mann had told Rahul Gandhi that he was made the Chief Minister by the public and reminded him of an insult inflicted on Capt Amarinder Singh by unceremoniously removing him from the coveted post.
Mann has all along been facing criticism from the opposition parties that his government was being remote controlled by AAP national convener Kejriwal.
‘BJP, RSS CREATING ATMOSPHERE OF HATRED, FEAR IN COUNTRY’
Launching a scathing attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Sewak Sangh RSS, Rahul Gandhi minced no words to say that the two are creating an atmosphere of hatred, violence, and fear across the country.
“BJP is making one religion fight against another, one caste against another, and one language against another…They create fear….all of their plans cause fear to someone or something,” he said, while Congress-led UPA’s all policies aimed at wiping out the fear.
The Congress leader listed demonetization, “faulty” Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme to attack the BJP-led Central Government. On the other hand, he pointed out that the previous UPA governments brought MGNREGA, waived farm loans, urban renewal mission, green revolution, and white revolution. “Whatever we do is to wipe out fear. And whatever they do, they (BJP) do is to spread fear,” he said.
Talking about the Centre’s controversial agnipath scheme, Rahul Gandhi said that it shattered the dreams of those aspiring to join the defence forces, and even those who are serving it. “Lakhs of youths aspire to join the armed forces and protect the nation…Has the Agniveer scheme lessened their fear or increased it?...Hasn’t this scheme increased their fear?....Did the Agniveer scheme strengthen or weaken the country’s Army,” he asked the gathering.
Rahul Gandhi went on to say that what the three black laws did to farmers, the Agnipath scheme is doing to the armed forces.
He also pointe dhow demonetization and GST created fear amongst the industry sector. “Wherever they bring a scheme, their target is to create fear and snatch fruits of people’s labour and hand it over to India’s two-three billionaires,” he alleged.
“For 24 hours, you will see Narendra Modi’s face in the media. Switch on TV and you will see Narendra Modi ji’s face,” he quipped, adding that the problems faced by farmers, inflation, shortage of fertilizers, GST, demonetization, and others were not discussed in the media.
“Those who control the media houses, their target is to see India’s attention should not be drawn towards real issues. And they do it 24 hours. Why? Because your pocket is being picked,” he added.
‘MY YATRA IS TO CONNECT PEOPLE AGAINST HATRED, FEAR’
Rahul Gandhi stated that his nationwide march, which started from Kanyakumari and entered Jammu and Kashmir in the final leg on Thursday, was started against inflation, unemployment, and hatred and also to connect people of this country. “Everywhere, people showered their love during the yatra and gave us great strength,” he said, adding that in Punjab, dhabas offered free food to those participating in the yatra. “You may call it love or Punjabiyat, you may give different names. I want to thank you from my heart,” Gandhi said.
“WILL ASK MOTHER TO BRING ‘SARSON KA SAAG’ FROM PUNJAB”
Talking about the love showered by Punjabis and the Punjabi delicacies he savoured during his stay in Punjab, Rahul Gandhi said that he would now ask his mother (UPA chief Sonia Gandhi) to bring makki ki roti and sarson ka saag from Punjab. “The love showered by you in Punjab has created a serious problem…now Delhi ka parantha won’t do for me…now I am used to enjoy Punjab’s makki di roti sarson ka saag…My mother is fond of makki ki roti sarson ka saag, and I was thinking of telling her that she will have to bring that Punjab touch to the dish now…yeh delhi wala nahi chalega!” he said.
‘WORE TURBAN INTENTIONALLY’
Reacting to the controversy created after Rahul Gandhi wore a turban during his visit to the Golden temple, Rahul Gandhi said: “There’s a reason why I wore a turban during the yatra in Punjab..I intentionally tied the turban. Because I wanted to show my respect for the history of Gurus and the path shown by them. I respect it and gain strength from it…I bow before it…this is my path too…I’ve learned a lot from it.”
BJP STOLE CONG’S GOVTS IN 6 STATES: KHARGE
Congress’ national president Mallikarjun Kharge, addressing the rally, said that the BJP “stole” six governments including Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. “Should I call them chor or what? They woo someone with money or some greed and threaten someone by income tax or others…They are going to do the same thing in future also,” he said.
Kharge said that the BJP is nervous because of Rahul Gandhi's yatra. “They don't do any work for the country’s betterment, their focus is only on winning the elections. They never work to solve people's problems. Wherever they go, they will talk about winning elections. When we stand in the Parliament to raise questions and issues of the people, they are not ready for discussion. They adjourn the House by making excuses, and later they say that they were ready but the Congress creates hurdles,” said Kharge, who is also the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha.