Rahul leads anti-govt fast, BJP dubs it 'farce'
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday led his party on a nationwide fast targeting the Modi government but a picture of party leaders having ‘ chhole-bhature’ before the protest gave the BJP fodder to launch a counter-attack and dub the exercise a “farce” and “joke on Dalits”.
Rahul Gandhi, whose party had announced the fast over a variety of issues including alleged caste and communal violence, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “anti-Dalit”.
In another apparent embarrassment, the Congress had to ask anti-Sikh riots accused Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler to stay away from dais at Rajghat, where the fast was held in the national capital, which BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra described as “admission of guilt” by the Opposition party. While, Kumar left the venue soon after, Tytler sat in the audience along with party workers.
Speaking at the Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the government.
“We are standing here against the BJP's oppressive ideology. We are standing here today and will stand against it all our life and we will defeat them in the 2019 elections,” Gandhi said.
As allegations and counter-allegations flew thick and fast, Patra claimed Gandhi did not turn up at 10.30 am, when the fast began, as he was used to a “politics of luxury” and could not wake up in morning even for a day.
The BJP spokesperson said Modi believed in politics of performance and has brought Dalits into economical and social mainstream with schemes like Jan Dhan and Mudra, while alleging that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi have ridiculed Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of ‘satyagrah’ while sitting in Rajghat. Gandhi, on the other hand, said opposition leaders were being dubbed as animals — in a reference to the BJP chief Amit Shah’s remarks that opposition leaders were like snakes and mongooses who flock together during floods — but the fact is that everyone is against the government.
The government was working against Dalits, tribals, minorities and farmers, the Congress leader said, adding the country will not accept its attempt to spread violence and hatred. It is the BJP’s ideology to “divide the country and crush Dalits, crush tribals and minorities”, he said.
He also spoke of BJP’s Dalit MPs writing to Modi and claimed that the ruling party’s members tell him in Parliament that Modi was “casteist” and “antiDalit”.