Senior Congress leader and former AICC President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday compared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Nathuram Godse, assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, while describing the difference in ideologies between the two parties.
Gandhi was speaking at a 'Jan Aakrosh' rally of the Congresss party in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Kalapipal (Shajapur district). “This is a fight of ideologies. On one side, there is the Congress party and on the other side, the RSS and BJP. On one side, there is Mahatma Gandhi and on the other, there is Godse,” he said.
He claimed that the fight between the Congress and the BJP was ‘hatred versus love and brotherhood’.
“Wherever they go they spread hatred. With this, Madhya Pradesh’s farmers and youth have started hating them. They are getting back what they did with people,” he told the huge gathering.
He stated that he met several farmers in Madhya Pradesh during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“We walked 370 kilometres in Madhya Pradesh and met farmers, women and young people of the state. They told me a few things. The amount of corruption done by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh has not been witnessed anywhere in the country,” he said, adding that farmers told that they don’t get adequate price for their produce. “In Chhattisgarh, we give Rs 2,500 for rice. We promised it and we fulfilled it,” he addded.
At the rally, Rahul Gandhi said that if Congress is elected to power, it will conduct a caste census.
Making his first appearance in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of not giving the Other Backward Class (OBC) community “real power” and made a pitch for a caste census as an election promise.
Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning his claim of working for OBCs, and said that Madhya Pradesh was the epicentre of corruption.
Gandhi’s speech comes at a time when the Congress is sharpening its push for stronger OBC representation and is seen as a counter to the BJP’s aggressive Hindutva politics and a recognition that PM Modi’s mass appeal as an OBC leader has eroded Congress support in the community.
“Narendra Modi, you claim to work for OBCs, you are their leader, then why have you not included OBC reservation within women’s reservation? Narendra Modi claims that the BJP is for OBCs and you are their MLAs and MPs. I saw the statistics before the speech, first of all, the Congress has had three OBC chief ministers,” Gandhi said.
The country, he added, was run by 90 officers, of which only three belonged to the OBC community. “The truth is, 90 officers run the government of India (the cabinet secretary and secretary of the Government of India). These 90 people decide where the money will go and how much will be allocated. Now, I want to ask you a question- BJP has been in power for 10 years, and 90 officers are running the government of India. Narendra Modi says that you are a part of the government of India. Tell me, how much involvement do you have with these three OBC officers in the budget?” Gandhi asked.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that he had questioned and criticised the government over the Adani issue in Parliament, which led to his Lok Sabha membership being cancelled. He further emphasized that Adani plays a pivotal role in the agricultural distress plaguing the country, stating, " Adani is 'taking' money directly from farmers' pockets".