Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday trained guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of using the “smokescreen” of development to mask his communal agenda.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony of the 125th birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Sonia said, “We are witnessing attempts by certain individuals and elements to whitewash their communal agenda in front of the world by hiding it behind the mask of development…Development is used as a buzzword, again and again. It is ironic that they speak of development yet fail to learn from the legacy and lessons of the man synonymous with laying the foundation of India’s growth-Nehruji.”
Rahul, who also addressed the gathering of Congress workers, was incisive in his criticism of Modi. Attacking the PM, Rahul said that when he (Modi) is abroad, he says India is tolerant and Government wants to take all sections together but he says nothing of this sort when he is in India.
“Prime Minister is silent when Dalit children are killed in Haryana or when someone is killed in the name of religion in Dadri,” he said.
Accusing Modi, BJP and RSS of practising unilateralism, Rahul said the Prime Minister does not take interest in Parliament and though the Opposition raises issues neither he nor his Government bother to respond, which is in stark contrast to the respect shown by Nehru to his opponents.
Sonia echoed this sentiment in her address. She said, “Simply because someone holds a different view or disagrees they cannot be branded a traitor. This is neither the way of our democracy nor a form of patriotism. It is a form of dictatorship.”
She even took on RSS without naming it when she said, “In 1942 when Gandhiji announced the Quit India movement, there were two groups which actively and openly opposed the call. One was responsible for partition (reference to Muslim league) and the other is today the remote controller of the ruling establishment.”
Referring to the decision of a host of intellectuals to return their awards to protest against the climate of intolerance, Sonia noted that Nehru as the first Sahitya Academy president had said that his first duty was to protect it from the interference of the Prime Minister. “But today these institutions are reduced to a joke. But who will protect the academies and institutions of todayIJ” she said.
Among other senior Congress leaders who spoke was former PM Manmohan Singh who was at his rather unusual aggressive best while taking on his successor. Singh was greeted with loud cheers when he said, “Hamare Pradhan Mantri vikas ki baat karte hain. Jahan jaate hain vikas ke naam par apni dukandaari chamkaane ki baat karte hain (Our Prime Minister talks of development. Wherever he goes, he tries to promote himself in the name of development).”
Hailing the contribution of Nehru in strengthening the roots of democracy, Rahul said those who want to put roadblocks in it could never be the rightful claimant of Indian democratic tradition. Two websites - celebratingnehru.org were also launched in English and Hindi commemorating Nehru’s contributions.