Sonia slams BJP for disrespecting mandate, Mamata and others joins in

PATNA: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday slammed the ruling BJP government for ignoring the people’s wish and exhorted the opposition parties to stand against the forces, which is out to dismantle the basic characters of the country—unity, brotherhood and tolerance.

In an audio message that was played at the rally, she also hit out at PM Narendra Modi for his remark that those pursuing politics of the opposition had turned irrelevant, saying, “the fact remains that those ignoring the truth would not remain relevant for long”.

Sonia, whose absence at the rally was attributed to her poor health and the sickness of Priyanka Gandhi, accused the BJP of disrespecting the popular mandate in Bihar to cover up its “corrupt acts” and said it was not the betrayal of trust of the people of Bihar but of the whole nation.

Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in his text message read out by state Congress president Ashok Choudhary, hoped that the rally would apprise the people about corrupt deals and nefarious acts being indulged in by the ruling coalition.

West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee also wondered whether BJP had given membership to God and will Hindus also have to take a certificate from it to authenticate their religious status now.

She said, “BJP is now dictating what food we should eat, what we should wear and whom we should romance-whatever that they think is correct. At this rate, we will have to take a certificate from it whom to worship, or which religion we belong,” she said. “This attitude cannot be tolerated. India is a pluralistic country and such parochial thinking is a big threat for the nation.”

Meanwhile, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav said the PM should clarify as how many youths have been left jobless after the demonetisation and GST implementation in the country.