Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, today took on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ”atrocities on Dalits” and assured he will not let BJP and RSS destroy the Constitution. Gandhi, launching a nationwide ‘Save the Constitution’ campaign in support of Dalits and weaker sections of society, said, “This government has no place for Dalits and backward classes among their ranks. While the atrocities against Dalits continue to rise, the PM does not speak a word.”
Gandhi said the Prime Minister was only concerned about how to become the PM and said, “Narendra Modi is only interested in Narendra Modi. Electoral victory is his only focus.”
The Congress president went on to add that the institutions were gifted to India by the Constitution, by the efforts of Jawaharlal Nehru and BR.Ambedkar but the Modi government is now destroying these institutions by appointing RSS ideologues on important positions.
The Congress’ nationwide campaign will run for the entire year and conclude on April 14, 2019, just before the general elections, on the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar. The party is aiming to mobilise support from the SCs and STs and OBC communities at the village level. The country has faced violent protests after the dilution of the SC/ST Act by the Supreme Court and the Congress has blamed ruling party for the current situation.
Mocking the PM, Gandhi began his address by quoting Modi from his book ‘Karmayogi’ and said, “In his book “Karmayogi”, PM Modi justified manual scavenging by calling it a “spiritual experience” for the Valmiki community. This speaks volumes about his anti-Dalit mindset and said it is their thinking (BJP), not ours.”
While both the BJP and Congress have exchanged blows over the washout of the Budget Session in Parliament, Gandhi addressing the gathering said that “Government was responsible for crushing the Supreme Court and shutting down of the Parliament.”
Gandhi during his speech challenged Modi for a 15-minute debate and claimed that he will make the prime minister speechless on the issues being raised by the opposition surrounding the Rafael deal, Nirav Modi and the increasing criminal cases around the security of women in the country.
In a bold remark, the Congress scion said “there is a need to save girls from BJP MLAs and MPs” as he referred to the Unnao incident where a BJP MLA is alleged to have raped a girl and murder her father. “Earlier this government said Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao but now the only thing left is Beti Bachao.”
In an all-out attack on Modi’s global outreach, Gandhi said it took Congress 70 years to build India’s image, but it has been badly hurt in just four years of Modi governance.