Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses the 84th Congress plenary session on Sunday. (Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday likened the BJP and RSS to “powerful and arrogant” Kauravas and said the Congress, like the Pandavas, were designed to fight for the truth. Addressing the 84th Congress plenary session and first as Congress president, Gandhi left no stone unturned in attacking the BJP while admitting that the last UPA government did not stand up to the expectations of the people.
“Centuries ago there was a huge battle in Kurukshetra. The Kauravas were powerful and arrogant. The Pandavas were humble and fought for the truth. Like the Kauravas, BJP and RSS are designed to fight for power. Like the Pandavas, Congress is designed to fight for truth,” the Gandhi scion said. While asserting that “corrupt and powerful control the conversation in the country today”, Gandhi put forward a question to the people, “Will India live a lie or will India have the courage to face the truth?”
Gandhi further accused Prime Minister Modi of diverting the attention of the public from “real issues” plaguing the country. “The PM diverts our attention and jumps from one event to another from Gabbar Singh tax to yoga in Parliament but never talks about the issues. But, the Congress cannot be stopped from seeking the truth and justice,” he said.
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Ever since the Punjab National Bank fraud case has come to light, the Congress has assailed the government for letting industrialists flee the country with taxpayers’ money. The Grand Old Party has also held up normal functioning of the Parliament, demanding a debate on bank frauds with a provision that entails voting. On Sunday, Gandhi said the name Modi symbolised the collusion between India’s biggest crony capitalists and the PM of India, referring to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. “What does Modi actually mean? The name Modi symbolises the collusion between India’s biggest crony capitalists and the prime minister of India,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh at the Congress plenary session on Sunday. (Express photo by Praveen Jain)
Training his guns on Arun Jaitley, Gandhi said the finance minister and his daughter were hand in glove with crony capitalists. The Congress chief had earlier alleged that Jaitley’s lawyer daughter was engaged by Nirav Modi for legal work. “You can steal Rs 33,000 crore from the banks and the BJP government will protect you. Finance Minister will go silent because he and his daughter work for crony capitalists,” Gandhi said.
However, he admitted to disappointing the masses the last time UPA was in power. “The last government we formed did not stand up to the expectations of the people. The people of the country were let down by us,” he said. It may be recalled that during his speech at Berkeley in 2016, Gandhi had acknowledged that a “certain amount of arrogance” had crept into the Congress midway through UPA II, and it had stopped having “conversations with people”. In his address, he assured party workers that he would break walls between them and leaders and vowed to fill the Congress stage with “talented youngsters”.
Accusing the BJP of spreading fear, Gandhi said people from all walks of life, the judiciary to activists, were scared. (Express photo by Praveen Jain)
Accusing the BJP of spreading fear, Gandhi said people from all walks of life, the judiciary to activists, were scared. “People from press are scared, for the first time we saw four SC judges running to public for justice. They told Gauri Lankesh and Kalburgi, question us and you will die. They tell our honest businessman to shut up and allow corrupt officers to extort their hard earned money. They tell our farmers to work for nothing. There is a difference between RSS and Congress. We respect the country’s institutions whereas they want to finish them,” Gandhi said.
Taking a dig at BJP chief Amit Shah indirectly over the Ishrat Jehan and Justice Loya case, Gandhi said unlike Congress, people would accept a man accused of murder as BJP chief. “They will accept a man accused of murder as the president of the BJP, but they will never ever accept the same in the Congress, because they hold Congress in the highest regard,” he said.
Gandhi voiced the hope that India would in the next decade play an important role on the global stage. (Express photo by Praveen Jain)
Gandhi voiced the hope that India would in the next decade play an important role on the global stage. “There are two visions in the world – of US and China. In 10 years, I want to see India’s vision there,” he said. The Congress unanimously passed a resolution at its plenary session, authorising party president Rahul Gandhi to choose members of the new working committee. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad moved a resolution, proposing that the new party chief selects his own team of the working committee, the highest decision-making body of the party.