Equating the killing of five Madhya Pradesh farmers with Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, the Congress on Wednesday flayed BJP chief Amit Shah's comment on the Father of the Nation and said the BJP was trying to "deconstruct" his image, ideology and thinking.
The Congress said it will launch on Thursday a 'haq-mango abhiyaan' (fight-for-rights movement) for farmers in Uttar Pradesh.
"A few days ago in Raipur, a man used a very light word. They are those who want to deconstruct the image, ideology, and thinking of Mahatma Gandhi," Congress leader Raj Babbar told reporters here.
On June 9, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah had referred to Mahatma Gandhi as a "bahut chatur baniya" (very clever Baniya) while addressing a gathering in Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
"Farmers fighting for their rights are being shot, in the same manner in which Gandhi-ji was assassinated in 1948," Babbar said while referring to the June 6 killing of farmers in Mandsaur district.
Babbar said: "They fear if the thinking and ideology of Gandhi-ji remains alive, their divisive politics will not work in India till then and they will have to work very hard to spread that kind of politics."
Babbar, who heads the Congress's Uttar Pradesh unit, said Indians had adopted the ideology of Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) and rejected the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue (Madhav Sadashiv) Golwalkar.
The Congress leader said the BJP leaders must remember that Gandhi-ji sacrified and renounced everything for the Chamaparan Satyagrah in Bihar (in 1917). "At that time, they (right-wing leaders) didn't come with farmers, nor are they coming with them today."
Terming the Uttar Pradesh government's loan waiver announcement a "gimmick", the Congress leader said: "During state assembly polls, they shouted about waiving farm loans, but are unable to tell how much amount they waived and who all benefitted."
Asserting that the Congress won't allow Mahatma Gandhi's ideology to die, the Congress leader said: "We will fight this suit-boot, band-baaja and bullet sarkar (government)."