Rahul Gandhi says getting an X-ray done on inequality is no crime
Unfazed by the political storm over Congress’s redistribution of wealth promise and caste census, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said it is his life’s mission to ensure justice for the oppressed sections of the society.
“I am not interested in caste but in nyay ( justice). I am saying that gross injustice is being done with 90 per cent of the population. I have not even said that we will take any action on that. I just said let us find out how much injustice is being done. There should be no objection to that. If you get injured and I say that get an X-ray done, no one should object to that,” he said.
Addressing a ‘Samajik Nyay Sammelan’ organised by Samruddha Bharat Foundation, Gandhi said promises made in the Congress manifesto are not just for election purposes but serious political commitments.
CONGRESS MANIFESTO
The Congress and Rahul Gandhi are under attack by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had said that if one has two houses, including a small flat for children in a nearby city, the Congress will ask such people to return one to the government. “If anything is kept even inside the Bajra box of your house, it will also be searched. If it is kept in the wall, it will be searched using X-Ray,” Modi said in his own style and added that whatever extra property than necessity people have, the government will seize it if Congress government is formed.
Gandhi, on his part, said that the Congress manifesto talks about the X-ray and the income inequality created by Modi. Alleging that Modi government has transferred ₹16 lakh crore to select business people, Gandhi said the Congress is going to return a small amount to the 90 per cent of the population.
CASTE CENSUS
Asserting that caste census will give clarity, Gandhi said it is not just a caste survey but an economic and institutional survey would also be attached to it. The country will get to know how many Dalits, adivasis and poor general castes are there and their participation in various sectors, he added.
He also took swipe at news channels and said: “look at the national media and Narendra Modi. As soon as I used the word X-ray and said let us test how much injustice is there, they stood up and started saying that attempts are being made to divide, break the country.”
An X-ray will only tell about participation and is about justice and all ‘deshbhakts (patriots) would like this, he added.
Further, he also said: “What does a deshbhakt want? A deshbhakt wants justice in the country. A deshbhakt wants India to move forward and become a super power. So, if you want to become a super power and move ahead of China, one has to use the strength of 90 per cent of the population. Those who call themselves ‘deshbhakts’ are scared of XRay,” he said.
SOCIAL ISSUES
Asserting that no force can stop caste census, he said: “as soon as our government is formed, the first thing that would be done is a caste census.”
He said for the national media, social and environmental issues were “non-serious” but discussing celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Virat Kohli was serious. “Anybody who talks of the 90 per cent of the population is dubbed non-serious,” Gandhi said.
He also said that in the top 200 firms of the country there was no Dalit, tribal or OBC. “Narendra Modi has given ₹16 lakh crore to 25 people from these firms. If you waive farmers’ loans 25 times, that money has been given by the prime minister to 25 people,” he alleged.
He said that the BJP’s aim is to divert attention of Dalits, OBCs, tribals by raising Pakistan, China and Bollywood.