New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the BJP’s oft-repeated charge against his party’s “dynastic politics”, and pointed out that there were dynasties within the ruling party too.
At a media meeting in Aizawl on Monday, Gandhi asked what Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh’s sons did. “Last I heard, Amit Shah’s son is running Indian cricket…. Many of their children, including Anurag Thakur, are (from) dynasties,” the leader said.
Gandhi also said he was confident his party would win all the upcoming state assembly elections next month.
He said the Congress would take “every single state” they were fighting in – Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. “I am actually surprised because it is not challenging,” Gandhi told the media on the second day of his trip to poll-bound Mizoram where he kicked off the Congress’s campaign.
The leader said if anyone has to hold on to their positions, then it was the BJP and not the Congress. “When I go to Madhya Pradesh (ruled by the BJP), I see a huge upsurge against the BJP. When I got to Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan (both ruled by the Congress), I see huge support for our governments… If you look carefully at opinion polls, you will find support for what I am saying,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said the BJP and the RSS had a different vision of the country than his party. He said: “We believe that India is a Union of States. All religions, all cultures, all histories need to be protected… The Congress laid the foundation of our country and we have a record of defending that foundation. The BJP is attempting to capture the entire institutional framework of the country. We believe the institutions of the country belong to the people and not to one political organisation.”
Gandhi added while the Congress believed in decentralisation, the BJP wants all decisions to be taken in Delhi. “RSS believes India should be governed by one ideology, organisation, which we are precisely opposing… The RSS and the BJP are threatening the foundation of your beliefs,” he said.
The Congress leader also said the INDIA bloc would “defend the idea of India by protecting its values, constitutional framework, and freedom”, highlighting that the Opposition alliance comprised 60 per cent of the nation.
The Congress has released a list of 39 candidates for the 40-seat Mizoram Assembly, which is ruled by the Mizo National Front (MNF) in alliance with the BJP.
On Monday, Gandhi had flayed the MNF for failing to develop the state, for the lack of infrastructure, jobs, and the increasing drug menace.
He said in the last five years, the MNF government could not curb the state’s drug problem which affected many lives, and killed hundreds of youth. He added the MNF had also failed to tackle drug smuggling in the state.
Gandhi said the youth turned to drugs because the MNF could not generate employment, while the Congress had a “good record for running governments”.
The five states are going to polls between 7 and 30 November. The votes will be counted on 3 December.
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