Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said that former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi also got a massive poll mandate in 1984 but he did not use it to create an atmosphere of fear or to threaten people, in an indirect attack on the Modi Government.
Addressing an event marking Rajiv Gandhi’s 75th birth anniversary, Sonia said that her husband gave the message that unity can be maintained by celebrating India’s diversity.
Sonia said the former Prime Minister’s 75th birth anniversary is not a ritual being marked by the Congress, but an occasion to reaffirm its resolve to uphold the values that inspired him. Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary is an occasion to resolve to stand up and confront forces determined to destroy the values that inspired him, she said in the presence of former PM Manmohan Singh, senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi.
“Rajiv Gandhi never posed a threat to democracy, he never suppressed public opinion. His ethics and honesty always inspired him. The work done by the late PM is something that cannot be merely with slogans and pride rather it needs hard work and strong will,” Sonia said.
Without naming any particular party or name, she said today there are those who are busy inventing a new past for us, Rajiv was engaged in inventing in preparing for a new future. “To him, the past has to be understood in all its complexities to build pride, not to stoke prejudice, to strengthen social harmony, not fuel antagonism and polarize our society, a society whose heritage has been enriched by multiple streams of faiths, beliefs and culture. He was proud of our past, but, at the same time he held a firm conviction that India has to be a modern Nation,” said Sonia.
She recalled how a section accused him of being elitist but it was he who crafted the new education policy in 1986 through which he looked upon rural India especially children and got a chain of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in every single district.
“His political adversaries accused him of being out of touch with reality with his fixation for computers. Yet it is this magnificent obsession with technology and modernity that has made millions of youth in our country ready to tackle the challenges of the digital era. I believe that his strategic reasons laid the foundations for prosperity of our country in the coming century,” Sonia said.
On the occasion she also asserted that electoral ups and downs are inevitable and challenges facing the Congress are formidable, but it must continue with its ideological struggle against divisive forces. Sonia recently took over as the party’s interim President following her son Rahul Gandhi stepping down as party chief owning the dismal performance in Lok Sabha this year.