An atmosphere of fear prevails in India, says Rahul
There is an atmosphere of fear in India and the Constitution is under “severe attack”, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday, attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the controversial government formation in Karnataka.
The BJP emerged as the singlelargest party in Karnataka with 104 of the 222 seats that went to the polls but the Congress with 78 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) with 37 seats formed a post-poll alliance. But the governor invited the BJP and BS Yeddyurappa took oath as chief minister on Thursday morning after a midnight Supreme Court appeal by the Congress failed.
Speaking in Chhattisgarh hours after the oath ceremony, Gandhi claimed that the judiciary, press and even the BJP parliamentarians were under fear.
“People approach to judiciary for justice but for the first time in the history four sitting judges of the Supreme Court came in front of public and claimed they are not allowed to perform their duties and they want public support,” he said, referring to an unprecedented press conference by justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph in January. “Judges said they were being suppressed and threatened and they need people’s
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support. It was seen for the first time in any democratic country. It must have happened in the dictatorship. I have happened in Pakistan and African countries where a general comes and suppressed court and press. But in India, it was experienced for the first time,” he said. “Our Constitution is under attack. Recently, in Karnataka, the MLAs are on one side and the governor on the other and you know what attempt is being made. JD(S) leader had said its MLAs were offered ₹100 crore,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi, who spoke at Raipur, Surguja and Bilaspur as part of his ‘Jan Swaraj Sammelan’, also focused on the problems of farmers and exhorted that if Congress government comes in power the entire debt of farmers will be waived off. He further alleged that BJP government has no space for the farmers. He alleged that the RSS and BJP’s target was to suppress the voice of Dalits, ‘adivasis’ (tribals) and women.