BJP’s outreach move ahead of Madarihat bypolls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up for a 'public outreach' campaign in the Madarihat Assembly segment, as it seeks to retain the seat in an upcoming by-election.
Intensifying his attack on the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said India is facing caught between two ideologies – one espoused by the grand old party and the other by the saffron party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“There is a fight between two ideologies in India – one that we (Congress) represent and the other that is espoused by the BJP and the RSS,” the Congress leader claimed while addressing the Indian Diaspora in New York.
He further said that the principles and ideology that the Congress holds dear are the same as that of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
Advertisement
He claimed that the ideas espoused and propagated by the BJP and RSS were that of Nathuram Godse, a rightwing leader who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.
“The ideology that we follow is the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, an NRI and a kind and a simple man who propagated non-violence and had a lifelong quest for the truth. However, the ideology that BJP and RSS follow is that of Nathuram Godse, a violent and angry man unable to face the reality of his own life,” Rahul claimed.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the key architects of contemporary India were all Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who kept an open mind about the outside world.
The Congress leader, who is on the last legs of his ongoing three-city tour of the US, said all prominent leaders associated with the country’s freedom struggle, including Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhash Chandra Bose, were NRIs who kept an open mind about the outside world.
“The central architect of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi, was an NRI. The foundation for India’s freedom movement was laid in South Africa…Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, all were NRIs and had an open mind about the outside world,” he said.
Advertisement
