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Terming the upcoming 2024 Parliamentary polls an ‘ideological battle’ between the INDIA bloc and the BJP for saving Indian Constitution, democracy and pluralism, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on April 12 exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc will win this battle with the people’s overwhelming mandate.
Addressing his first election rally in Tamil Nadu this season at Palayamkottai, he said the INDIA bloc was fighting for freedom and equality while the BJP-led combine and Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government was backing the ideals of the RSS. While the INDIA bloc believed in pluralistic nation with many different languages and varied cultures, BJP was professing its theory of one nation, one language, one culture and one leader. But, for the INDIA bloc, all are equal for which the ideological battle is on.
According to him, in this line, sustained attacks were being made on Tamil, Tamil culture, history and their tradition and any attack on Tamil was nothing less than attack on Tamils. There could be no India without Tamil, Bengali and other Indian languages and all Indian traditions, languages, culture, history etc. are sacred.
Mr. Rahul charged while ₹16 lakh crore loans given to 21 Indians had been happily waived by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was refusing to give-up crop loans availed by Indian farmers. Even as farmers were protesting for their genuine demands and “30 farmers were killing themselves everyday due to crop loss”, lack of minimum support price for their crop, monsoon vagaries etc, the Modi-led government was not ready to forgive their loans.
He claimed only 2 or 3 large industrialists – none of them from Tamil Nadu - were being given government contracts and other benefits. “Just because Adani was close to the Prime Minister and he was helping the Prime Minister, ports, airports, wind, solar, coal power units, defense sector contracts were being given to Adani even as the entire micro, small and medium enterprises had been decimated by demonetization and GST,” he claimed.
The Congress leader alleged the ED, CBI and IT were being used as political weapons to target the political opponents including the Opposition leaders and the Chief Ministers, who were put behind the bars. The Prime Minister, who had chosen the Election Commissioners, had frozen the Congress’s bank accounts just 2 months ahead of the elections. Even as Mr. Modi was enjoying monopoly over India’s finances and communication systems, his MPs were openly threatening that they would change Indian Constitution, he alleged.
“Hence, India, which was once beacon of democracy as termed by the World, is no longer a democracy,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Backing Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s demand for flood relief from the Centre, Mr. Rahul said the repeated appeals in this connection were adamantly turned down.
“But they mocked at the relief given by the State Government to the flood-hit as ‘pitchai’ (alms),” he said.
When Mr. Gandhi underlined the highlights of the poll manifesto of the Congress like one-year apprenticeship with ₹1 lakh stipend for unemployed youth, annual assistance of ₹1 lakh for a woman in every poor family, minimum legally guaranteed support price for crops, doubling the salary of Asha, anganvadi workers, giving rights to States on getting waiver from national-level exams like NEET, 50% reservation for women in employment and education, new benefits for fishermen etc. the crowd acknowledged it with wild cheer.
“I know that the anti-poor NEET waiver is a big issue in Tamil Nadu Government as exam is their business. We’ll leave it to the State Government to take it or not,” he announced.
Recalling his close association with Tamil Nadu, the Congress leader said those who want to understand about social justice, pluralism, culture, languages of India should first read the history of Tamil Nadu, “which is the biggest teacher”.
“I may not be able to understand Tamil. But I’ve read a lot about your great kings, poets, freedom fighters and the leaders including E.V. Ramasamy Periyar and late Chief Ministers K. Kamaraj, Annadurai and Karunanidhi. It indeed taught me about walking on the path of social justice. Hence, I started my 4,000 Km-long Bharat Jodo padayatra from Tamil Nadu’s Kanniyakumari to Kashmir. Whenever I come here, I come with humility and my head bowed before your culture, tradition, love and affection as it is not a political relationship, but a family relationship,” he said.
Thoothukudi MP and candidate for the constituency Kanimozhi said that the cordial relationship between the DMK and the Congress relationship become an eyesore for a few. “As DMK believes in inclusive, democratic and egalitarian society, we can see this in the Congress’s election manifesto. So there is nothing surprising about this relationship. The Central Government to be formed after the election will be an extension of Dravidian Model government in Tamil Nadu,” she noted.
As Mr. Gandhi released a compact disc containing poll campaign songs, Ms. Kanimozhi received it.
Ministers Thangam Thennarasu and Anita R. Radhakrishnan, , Tiruchi MP Su. Thirunavukkarasar, TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai and others were present.
