Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched a frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government and urged the people to overthrow the present regime in the next year’s general elections.
Addressing his party’s “Jan Aakrosh” rally, Rahul virtually sounded the poll bugle for the lok Sabha polls next year. Calling Congress workers “sher ke bacche (cubs of lions)”, Rahul exuded confidence that his party will emerge victorious in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls and defeat the BJP in the 2019 general polls.
“Every Congress worker is a lion’s cub. We will win in 2019. Go to Assam and Punjab and ask how many Congress workers have given their lives for the country. The Congress workers have given their lives for the truth. We will show them in 2019. Narendra Modi is worried now. He is hiding behind power,” he said.
With an eye on elections, a combative Rahul tried to reach out to various sections of the society. For good measures, he highlighted incidents of attack on dalit and minorities and also slammed the Modi Government over unemployment and plight of the farmers. Persisting with his soft-Hindutava line that has seen him going from temple to temple and seer to seer in the poll-bound Karnataka, Rahul also talked about undertaking a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar after the Karnataka polls.
Comparing the BJP with the Congress, Rahul said while there was no scope for dissent in the BJP, the Congress gave enough scope for liberal debate and differences. He referred to Salman Khurshid’s recent controversial remarks on roles of Congress in riots, and said that he backed Khurshid’s right to have a different view point.
“I want to say, I will be the first one to protect Salman Khurshid. But when we are fighting RSS, we have to be united,” said Rahul, adding, “However, in Prime Minister Modi’s party, there is only one viewpoint that is allowed: that of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. This is the difference between them and us,” the Congress president said.”
While former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought support for the Congress, saying the democracy is in danger with the Modi Government consistently undermining its Constitutional institutions, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi too mounted a sharp attack on the Modi Government charging that the roots of corruption have become stronger in the NDA regime. The party also raised the case of judge BH loya and agrarian distress.
“Prime Minister Modi gave unemployment, ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ (the term the Congress coined for the Goods and Services Tax to target the Government), BJP MlA inflicted atrocities on women (Unnao rape case) in his tenure.
Modi ji did not speak a single word on Doklam during his visit to China. What kind of Prime Minister is heIJ” Rahul said addressing the well-attended rally at the Ramilia Maidan.
In the presence of Manmohan Singh and Sonia, he sought to compare the performance of the Governments led by his party with that of the Modi dispensation at the Centre. He claimed the Congress united all sections of society unlike the BJP, which spread hatred and division.
Rahul charged that farmers were under stress, but their loans were not written off by the Government, which, he added, waived of debts of corporate houses.
Rahul also hailed Congress workers, saying they have laid their lives for “truth and the country” and described them as “sher ke bachhe” (lion’s cubs).
Referring to the incident in which aircraft carrying him to Karnataka’s Hubballi nosedived before landing safely, Rahul said he thought of God at that time and added he will undertake Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after the Karnataka polls.
Rahul also slammed the Modi Government over Kathua and Unnao rape cases and said, “For the first time, an Indian PM has been asked to protect woman of the country on foreign soil. People have urged Modi to safeguard women in India.”
launching an all-out attack on the Government, former PM Manmohan Singh said it has failed to fulfil all its promises it made before coming to the power and it’s the time it should give an account of its works to the people of the country.
Manmohan claimed the anger among all sections of the society has shot up in the last four years due to the rising threat to the safety and security of the people and the vanishing employment opportunities, which has left the youths worried.
“The manner in which the Modi government is functioning, it can also pose a threat to democracy in the country. In the last few days, what happened in Indian Parliament is before the people of the country (to see),” he said addressing the ‘Jan Akrosh Rally’.
Accusing the Modi Government of thwarting the Opposition’s ‘No Confidence Motion’ in Parliament, Manmohan said it did everything possible and conspired to stop it from being taken up in Parliament.
The former Prime Minister said what has happened in the banking sector with Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi having taken thousands of crores of loans and run away from the country, is for everybody to see. “This is affecting the health of our banks,” he said.
He said the price of crude oil across the world was falling while in India the prices of petrol and diesel were constantly rising. He asked why this Government was not working towards reducing the oil prices, which have put common man in great distress. “The time has come that we support Rahul Gandhi in making this country a better place,” he said.
In her address to the ‘Jan Akrosh Rally’, Sonia alleged that the Government has left no stone unturned in undermining institutions and targeting political rivals by misusing central agencies. She also made a reference to the “serious crisis” that had gripped the top judiciary, saying it had never happened before.
In her 10-minute address, the UPA chairperson said unlike truth prevailing in the past, today falsehood, hatred and violence were ruling the roost. “What happened to Modi ji’s slogan ‘Na khaunga, na khane dunga’ (would not take bribes, nor let anyone do so) as the roots of corruption have become deeper under his watch,” she said.
Sonia Gandhi charged the government with muzzling dissenting voices and dividing communities with an eye on electoral gains. “I am confident that the voice raised at the rally at the historic Ramlila Maidan will resonate across every household and our fight will be successful in the days to come.”
Urging people to unite under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, Sonia Gandhi said, “We will fight Modi ji and his colleagues who are weakening the foundations of the Constitution for their personal interests. We will fight those who are imposing their will and not the law of the land. We will fight those who want to annihilate our Ganga-Jamuni culture.”