Virtually kickstarting the campaign for the Maharashtra assembly polls, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to each and every person in Maharashtra for the collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj recently in Sindhudurg.
Slamming the ruling MahaYuti alliance comprising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rahul Gandhi wondered why the PM should say sorry only to the Chhatrapati and he should tender an apology to all Maharashtrians for the tragedy at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, arising out of a corruption-ridden project.
"Only a person who has committed a mistake will apologise. Why did the PM say sorry? There are several reasons. Firstly, the project was given to RSS-linked persons, secondly, there was corruption in its construction and the people who built it had robbed the state, and thirdly though a statue of Chhatrapati was built, they did not take care whether it would stand or not. That's why the figurine of a great icon like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj crashed in such a short period," said Rahul Gandhi in a no-holds-barred attack.
The Congress leader was addressing a public rally after inaugurating a statue of the local strongman, the late Patangrao Kadam, who passed away in March 2018, in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge who is also Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar and other top Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders.
Rahul Gandhi pointed out that Maharashtra is a progressive state and soaked in the ideologies and teachings of legends like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, B.R. Ambedkar, and today, the country is witnessing "not politics but an ideological war".
"The Congress ideology is also very similar to theirs... but the BJP's ideals are opposite to these great legends. The BJP has been spreading hatred, fomenting violence and dividing the people all over India for decades. Earlier, the great icons fought that tendency, now the Congress is fighting against the BJP," asserted Rahul Gandhi.
He reiterated how the BJP wants to give the fruits of development to a select few while keeping all others backwards through hatred, fomenting violence, pitting communities, language and individuals against each other.
The Leader of the Opposition pointed out that the BJP is assaulting the Constitution every day, placing their people in all democratic and constitutional institutions to subvert them. Merit is discarded if they belong to the RSS-BJP.
"We have been demanding a Caste Census since long, as we want to find out who's really benefiting from the nation's resources and the fruits of progress. But the BJP has been consistently against it. It was only after we built up pressure that they have now admitted that Caste Census is needed. The Congress and our allies are committed to conduct a Caste Census and shall do it at any cost," declared Rahul Gandhi.
Referring to the two editions of his Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the Congress stalwart said that it secured huge response because it propagated 'mohabbat' (love) against the BJP's 'nafrat' (hatred).
"Manipur has been facing a civil war-like situation since over one-and-half years. But the PM has not visited the state... He cannot even go, as it's the BJP which has ignited the situation there," he said.
Rahul Gandhi also pulled up the government for giving loan waivers to his handful of rich industrialist friends but not extending the same benefit to crores of poor farmers across the country.
In his speech, Kharge paid tributes to Kadam, who hailed from a poor farmer's family, worked as a teacher and then rose onto become an educational baron through his Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University and other prestigious academic institutions.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
(With inputs from IANS)
