Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Rahul steps up attack on BJP as party’s rally reaches J&K
LAKHANPUR: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing them of creating an atmosphere of hatred, violence and fear in the country.
He also accused the BJP of dividing people on the basis of religion, caste, languages, instead of addressing actual issues like poverty, unemployment and inflation.
The former Congress president’s attack on the BJP and RSS came as the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra walked into its final phase and entered Jammu & Kashmir at Lakhanpur.
The yatra began in Kanyakumari on September 7 and is scheduled to end in Srinagar on January 30.
“They (BJP and RSS) create fear. All of their plans (policies) cause fear to someone or something. They are spreading hatred but after walking from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, I can guarantee that this hatred hasn’t gone deep into the people,” he told a rally.
The Wayanad MP added:
“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji and our loving media people will keep raising Hindu-Muslim bogey and spread hatred to distract the common people while a team of pickpockets does its job. They will pit religions, castes and languages against each other to divert the attention of the people. Have you ever heard real issues like unemployment, inflation and poverty being discussed…,” he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also addressed the rally, saying: “The BJP always keeps on speaking one thing or the other against the Congress, against us..
They are focused only on how to win the elections,” he said.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, who also attended the rally, said: “If we are together, we will be able to overcome the hatred of the present day,” he said.
On Gandhi’s allegations, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina said: “People know their history and they also know the anti-national character of the Congress. Those who are on the yatra, let me ask them who disintegrated India in 1947,” he said.