Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday clarified the alleged ‘Congress is a party of Muslims’ remark in the wake of a massive controversy fanned by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The 48-year-old Gandhi took to Twitter to comment on the matter stating that he and his party stood with those who were persecuted irrespective of their identity.
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“I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me,” said Gandhi days after he reportedly told an Urdu daily that his party was for Muslims.
“I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress,” Gandhi wrote on Twitter.
His remarks came in the middle of a debate on whether he actually made the remark.
The Youth Congress, too, backed Rahul Gandhi’s comment accusing the BJP of trying to divide India.
“We must not fall prey to @BJP4India’s open strategy to divide us Indians on communal lines. As the 2019 Lok Sabh elections draw nearer, PM Modi & his party will fuel the fire of communal tension & violence. We must stand together in harmony and SAY NO in one voice – #IAmCongress,” the party posted on its official Twitter account.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala had earlier called the BJP a “new version of the East India Company”.
“’Divide and rule’ was the ideology of the EIC then, and it is the same ideology followed by the BJP now. Like Duryodhan, the BJP is trying to disrobe the established communal harmony, social equality and centuries of Indian culture,” he said.
But while senior Congress leaders questioned the veracity of the Urdu daily’s claim and accused the BJP of creating a fissure, the reporter of ‘Inquilaab’, Mumtaz Alam Rizwi, stood by his report.
According to NDTV, Rizwi quoted Gandhi as saying that the Congress is a party of Muslims because the minorities are marginalised in the country.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra posted a report on Twitter and said, “In an interview to,इंक़लाब, Congress’ Minority Cell President Nadeem Javed has reiterated that Rahul Gandhi was right in saying “हाँ,हम मुसलमानों की पार्टी है” ..Mr Javed further says RahulGandhi is meeting Muslim अकलियत and very soon He will be presiding over a Muslim Convention.”
PM Modi’s barb
At a recent rally in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raked up the controversy attacking Gandhi and the Congress over the remark.
“I read in a newspaper that Rahul Gandhi said that Congress is a party of Muslims. I am not surprised because former PM Manmohan Singh had said that Muslims have the first right on India’s natural resources,” said the PM.
Read More: Is Congress a party of Muslim men only, PM Modi asks Rahul Gandhi
“It’s okay if he [Rahul] says that Congress is a party for Muslims. My question to the naamdar [dynast] of Congress is: please tell me it yours is a party exclusively for Muslim men or does it include Muslim women? Does it have any place for the honour and dignity of Muslim women?” said the PM.
