Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Monday said minorities are patriots and make the country proud in every sphere, as he accused the BJP of spreading violence and hatred against Muslims, Sikhs and Christians.
In his maiden speech as the LoP in Lok Sabha, Gandhi alleged the BJP was spreading fear among every section of society.
“You scare the minorities… you spread violence, hatred against minorities, against Muslims, against Sikhs, against Christians. And what have the minorities done? They represent India in every sphere, they make India proud,” the former Congress chief said.
“They stand steadfast with India like mountains, they are patriots and you attacked all the minorities, spread violence and hatred against them,” he said.
Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that Mahatma Gandhi was revived by a movie but the Father of the Nation was always alive.
He alleged that the small and medium businesses, which are the backbone of India’s employment, have been blown away by a flawed GST and demonetisation.
“Today the result is that whatever they do, India’s youth cannot get employment. Job creation, the backbone is broken, finished,” he said.
“I went to Gujarat and talked to textiles owners. I asked them why demonetisation and GST happened. They clearly said GST and demonetisation have been done to help billionaires. Narendra Modi works for billionaires, it is a simple matter,” he alleged.
“I keep going there and this time we will defeat you in Gujarat. You can write it down, the Opposition INDIA alliance is going to defeat you in Gujarat,” the Congress leader said.
Gandhi alleged that there has been a systematic attack on the Constitution, idea of India and on anybody who resists ideas being proposed by the BJP.
“Many of us, personally were attacked. In fact, some of our leaders are still in jail. One of our leaders has just recently been released, another one still in jail,” he said in an obvious reference to former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who recently got bail in a case, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who is still in custody in a corruption case related to the alleged excise scam.
Gandhi said he is happy and proud to be in the Opposition because ”for us, there is more than power, there is truth but for you, there is only power”.
“So, when Shiv Ji, places the snake near his neck, what he is saying is ’I will accept the truth and I will not back down from the truth…behind the shoulder of Shiv Ji is the Trishul. Now, I would like you to understand that there is a reason, that the Trishul, a weapon, has been his shoulder, it is not a symbol of violence, it is a symbol of non-violence,” he said.
“When we fought the BJP, we were not violent. When we defended the truth, there was not an ounce of violence in us. Now, there is a third idea, a very powerful idea that emerges from the idea of truth, courage and non-violence and that idea of course is a symbol that many of you hate, but that idea is the Abhayamudra, the symbol of the Congress Party which as you can see is also in this image and Jai Mahadev,” he said.
He further said that this morning Union minister Rajnath Singh smiled at him and greeted him but was now conscious of sitting with Modi and was not smiling or greeting him.
“The same story is of Gadkari ji too, it is true,” he said.
When Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked Gandhi to stick to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, the Congress leader cited that BJP MP Anurag Thakur had talked about Ayodhya.
“Anurag Thakur ji had talked about the attack on Sanatan Dharma, that’s why I have done this. I want to show what happened in Ayodhya, what was the truth of Ayodhya, he had raised the issue in the President’s debate,” Gandhi said.
He said the people of Ayodhya had given a message by defeating the BJP.
Gandhi said the Samajwadi Party MP who defeated the BJP in Ayodhya had told him that the people were upset that their land was taken away and they were not given adequate compensation.
Also, the people of Ayodhya were not called for the inauguration of the Ram temple while the BJP’s ”crony capitalist” friends were there, he said.
Gandhi said that after becoming Leader of the Opposition (LoP) all his personal dreams, aspirations and fears have to be put aside.
“I am now actually two people, I am not one person. I am a Constitutional person and my job is to be the Leader of the Opposition to represent all these parties equally. In fact, I don’t just represent the Congress Party, I represent every single party and I have to treat every single party with love and affection,” he said.
“So, when Hemant Soren Ji is in jail or Arvind Kejriwal Ji is in jail, it should disturb me, it should hurt me. When you unleash your agencies on these political people, it is our job to defend them,” he said.
Gandhi said this country has a government and ”we, like it or not, you are the government of India, elected by the people”.
“But I would say to you that as individual members, as the Cabinet, you do not spread fear in this country, that you do not spread hatred in this country, that you listen to the farmers of this country, you listen to the students of this country,” he said.
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