‘Cong ideology will smash BJP’
Secularism is in the blood of Congress and cannot be removed, says party V-P Rahul Gandhi
We believe in allowing everybody to do what they want to do and believe in what they want. This is the DNA of our organisation and we just have to reinvigorate that
RAHUL GANDHI, Cong V-P
NEW DELHI: The secular ideology of the Congress would be able to ‘not just defeat but smash the RSS and BJP’, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday, pitting his party as the pivotal force against the Rightwing intolerance.
While wrapping up the two-day conference where the party had invited many left-leaning intellectuals and historians, Gandhi diverted from his written speech to attack the RSS as a “fascist organisation” that doesn’t understand “what it is going to face in the coming weeks and months and years.”
Addressing the crowd that comprised of mostly Congress leaders and supporters, Gandhi said, “You will see the Congress organisation and the Congress ideology, which you represent, will defeat…. and not just defeat, but smash RSS and BJP.”
The 45-year old leader maintained that secularism is “in the blood of Congress” and it “simply cannot be removed”. Gandhi said his party respects everybody in this country. “We believe in allowing everybody to do what they want to do and believe in what they want. This is the DNA of our organisation and we just have to reinvigorate that,” he added.
The BJP retaliated as Union telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that all members of Gandhi’s family who have ruled the country have had consistently attacked the RSS. “He (Rahul) is no exception. But the RSS, being a great patriotic organisation in the field of social activism and cultural activism, has gone from strength to strength,” Prasad said as he appealed to the intelligentsia to join hands with the Congress.
Gandhi’s latest attack against the RSS and the BJP comes four days after he had accompanied Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders in a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest against growing intolerance and hate attacks.
“For the first time in the history, a fascist organisation that is openly opposed to the ideology and values of our Constitution has acquired decisive power over the Union,” Gandhi said.
With academicians Zoya Hasan and Badri Raina and civil right activist Shabnam Hashmi on the dais among others, Gandhi said, “The Congress needs to expand itself. But you also have to look towards the congress.
He talked about re-establishing the relationship between the intelligentsia and the party, to have more discussions and to “bring forth ideas that are going to defeat the RSS.” Gandhi said the RSS’ target was to establish a “theocratic and autocratic state” and described his party as the “biggest force” fighting the right-wing intolerance.