NEW DELHI: Congress president
Rahul Gandhi joined issues with PM
Narendra Modi on Twitter to say that RSS ideology can never respect Dalits even as the opposition party announced it will hold nationwide fast on April 9 for “peace and social harmony”.
In a reply to PM Modi’s tweet that “no government had honoured Ambedkar like his”, Rahul posted a collage of allegedly vandalised statues of Ambedkar in BJP-ruled states and Tamil Nadu. The pictures were accompanied by a sarcastic jibe: “Modi ji, the oppressive ideology you belong to can never respect Dalits and Babasaheb. (here are) Some examples of RSS/BJP ideology respecting Babasaheb.” It came a day after BJP chief Amit Shah tagged a video showing Rahul Gandhi speaking on SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to accuse the latter of inciting social hatred.
The opposition, led by Congress, has been targeting BJP on Dalit issues since the Supreme Court’s judgment ordering checks on the implementation of the POA Act. The opposition bloc has accused the Modi government of not properly defending the law in the SC and for “delayed” filing of the review petition against the court order.
Since the nationwide protests against the SC order resulted in police crackdown and violence on April 2, Rahul has led the Congress offensive against the Modi regime. His decision to call a nationwide fast on April 9 also referred to the violence during “Bharat Bandh” which he termed as “very dangerous for the society” and blamed BJP for it.
AICC spokesman Anand Sharma announced that Congress will hold a fast on April 9 for the cause of “social harmony”, accusing BJP of fostering divisions along communal and caste lines.
