Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi claimed on Monday that Dalits, backwards, tribals and poor general-caste people in the country are being made “slaves” again. He alleged that the ruling BJP’s vision for the 21st century is that either Dalits and backwards are made to do labour work or sent to jail for raising their voice.
Rahul Gandhi has been unwell for the last few days, because of which he could not participate in the “Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan” rally in Karnataka’s Belagavi last week as well as missed out on campaigning for the Delhi Assembly polls.
While addressing the “Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan” rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow, the senior Congress leader made a strong push for the grand old party’s social justice narrative and accused the BJP-RSS of insulting B R Ambedkar while addressing a rally here.
During the rally, Rahul Gandhi also slammed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over his remarks that India’s “true independence” was established the day the Ram temple in Ayodhya was consecrated.
Reacting to Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks, the former Congress chief said the statement shows that Bhagwat does not believe in the Constitution. He said the remarks were an insult to Ambedkar’s life that was dedicated to making the Constitution.
“A few days ago, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said, ‘India did not get independence on August 15, 1947, and real independence was achieved after Modiji came’. This is a direct attack on the Constitution,” Gandhi said.
With a copy of the Constitution in hand, Rahul Gandhi said, “This is Ambedkar’s Constitution and some days ago, it was insulted by Mohan Bhagwat, who said the Constitution did not give us independence and the Constitution has nothing to do with it as according to him, real independence was gained after Modiji came. This means he (Bhagwat) does not believe in the Constitution.”
“Ambedkarji’s life was dedicated to making this Constitution and that has been directly insulted by Mohan Bhagwat,” he alleged. Gandhi claimed that Dalits, backwards, tribals and poor general-caste people “are being made slaves” again. “I am surprised that your life is being destroyed and you are silently watching,” he said.
Referring to Bhagwat’s “independence” remarks, Gandhi said, “Did you see a poor person at the Ram mandir inauguration? They did not let the tribal president go inside the temple, they did not let Dalits and backwards go inside. At Parliament’s inauguration, they did not allow the president to go inside. Modiji said, ‘you are a tribal, you cannot come inside’.”
During the rally that saw a big turnout, the Lok Sabha LoP said Dalits, backwards and tribals had no rights before independence when only Maharajas and rajas enjoyed rights. “The change was brought with independence. You got land and rights. The BJP-RSS wants an India of pre-independence, where common people had no rights and only the likes of Adani and Ambani had rights. They want the poor to suffer in silence and not dream while the country is run by billionaires,” he said.
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