Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of seeking to subjugate various democratic institutions of the country in collusion with the RSS and the bureaucracy with an aim to 'mutilate' its Constitution.
"What is happening today is the systematic capture of India's democratic institutions by the prime minister, by the bureaucracy and the RSS....," said Rahul, adding " ... The aim is to mutilate the Indian Constitution which was given to us by Sri Ambedkar. That is the aim ..."
Modi and RSS want India to surrender its voice, he said while inaugurating a three-day B R Ambedkar International Conference organised by the Karnataka government here.
Rahul said India lost its independence because when Britishers stepped on its soil and millions and millions of people kept quiet and allowed them to do exactly what they pleased as they were powerful.
"And that is exactly what is happening today. When the journalist doesn't write about the violence (occurring) in front of her eyes, when the judge is pressurised into giving a judgement ... That is exactly what is happening," retorted Rahul.
"India's freedom was not simply taken away by the British. It was handed over to them by some Indians ... We lost our voice because we surrendered it."
"And this is exactly what Modi and RSS want. They want India to surrender its voice."
Observing that there were "two ways to rob people of their voice" - either by frightening them into submission or by shouting so loudly that no one else can be heard, Rahul said, "Narendra Modiji and the RSS are doing exactly that."
"What is happening today is the systematic capture of India's democratic institutions by the Prime Minister, by the bureaucracy and the RSS....," he charged.
"Do not forget that every single Indian will be robbed of their voice, every single Indian will be robbed of his future. We must firstly keep the firm grip on reality. We must never ever allow them to strangle it," he said.
Attacking Modi on demonetisation and for not listening to the farmers, Gandhi said, "The emperor is completely naked, but nobody around him has the courage to tell it to him.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)