Chandigarh: Ahead of the sixth phase of ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in an exclusive interview with ThePrint.
Here are the edited excerpts of 12 comments Gandhi made in the interview.
On Congress party’s electoral prospects
Looks pretty good. I don’t do numbers, I do feeling. And the feeling is pretty good, you can tell… Here’s an undercurrent of anger (against Narendra Modi) and I think it’s mixed with fear. So, the people are a bit scared of the Prime Minister and of his party president (Amit Shah). So they are not expressing yet openly but there’s an undercurrent. It’s going to be wiped out… There’s not going to be any hung verdict, there’s going to be a one-sided elections. There is a very strong undercurrent against Mr Narendra Modi.
Election Commission
It’s pressure. It’s Narendra Modi’s imprint. You can see that imprint on Supreme Court, you can see that imprint on the Election Commission, you can see it on the planning commission. You can see it on all institutions of this country. Mr Narendra Modi does not believe in independent institutions.
This is the first time in our history that four Supreme Court judge’s have come out and said ‘Hey, listen we are asking for the people of India for justice’. It’s unimaginable. Never happened in our history ever before. That is Mr Narendra Modi’s style. We don’t expect fairness, frankly, from the Election Commission. I’ll be very blunt with you, I don’t like saying it, I’m not happy saying it but as Congress president I’m not expecting fairness from them. I understand that they are under tremendous pressure from Mr Narendra Modi and they are going to act in a slightly biased manner.
Also read: EC under ‘tremendous pressure’ from Modi, Congress doesn’t expect fairness: Rahul Gandhi
Support to SP-BSP candidates in Uttar Pradesh
I’ve told my sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) and I told Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia that where we are winning absolutely fight for the Congress. Where we are not coming first or second, support the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. Made it very clear.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Hindu terror
It’s not even worth commenting on. I mean how do I see the fact that the BJP president was earlier accused of murder. How do I see that? I mean you know, that’s their style, that’s their way of operating… Terror has no religion. There is no religion in the world that says kill people.
Congress’ soft Hindutva politics
Why is going to a temple called soft Hindutva? Am I not allowed to go to a temple? Am I not allowed to go to a mosque? Am I not allowed to go to a Church? Am I not allowed to go to the Golden temple? Am I not allowed to go to a Gurudwara? I mean why? I love going to these places. I love seeing the spirituality of our country and I love going to places and listening to people who believe in different religions.
Why am I not allowed to do it? Is it some rule that only BJP people can go to temples? Who said they are the masters of our religion? Who are they? Who are they? What gives them the right? Everybody has the right. You have the right to go to any religious institution you want.
Impact of Balakot Strikes
I have done 100-plus meetings. The top-of-the-mind issue by a massive margin is unemployment. It’s massive… People are asking the question if China can produce 550,000 jobs in 24 hours, what is India doing losing 27,000 jobs every 24 hours? Why is India with all its brilliance, all its capability, all its energy sitting with highest unemployment in 45 years?
If you listen to the prime minister’s speeches, he’s not talking about unemployment; he’s not talking about his failure. He’s not talking about a plan.
Modi’s remark about late Rajiv Gandhi’s holiday on naval warship INS Viraat
Mr Narendra Modi is lying. I don’t think I need to respond to that. Mr Modi is trapped. He’s trapped in the web of lies he’s spread and now he’s sinking. I am frankly, as an opposition leader, fighting him and we are going to defeat him.
He’s a human being. I am feeling bad for the prime minister. I am feeling bad because the people of India had faith in him. They believed in him. They gave him a massive opportunity. And he dropped the ball. He wasted time in some imaginary world instead of getting down to doing work for the people of India. So as a human being, I feel bad for him.
Sam Pitroda’s remarks on 1984 anti-Sikh riots
I think that’s completely out of line. He should apologise for this. I think 1984 was a tragedy. It caused tremendous pain to the people. And I think he absolutely owes everybody an apology… Justice has to be done. The people who are responsible have to be brought to book and should be punished. And that story has been carried out.
The (former) PM (Manmohan Singh) has apologised. My mother has apologised. We all have made our position very clear on that, that it was tragedy. And what Mr Sam Pitroda has said is absolutely and completely out of line. I haven’t spoken to him but I will. I will personally speak to him and tell him that I don’t appreciate this type of nonsense.
Whether he regrets not joining Manmohan Singh government
No. I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I am not inexperienced. I don’t think so. I think the UPA II was Manmohan Singh ji, it was the vision of Manmohan Singh ji — UPA I and UPA II — and it would have been out of place for me to be part of that. I always felt that I had told Mr Manmohan Singh ji he’s going to lead the government and I am not going to interfere in any way. And I maintained that. It was a word I had given Mr Manmohan Singh ji and I kept my word.
Dynasty politics
It is interesting, the last time I said it in an interview a few days back. Last time, a family member of mine was prime minister was 1989, 30 years ago. Almost thirty years ago. Manmohan Singh ji was Prime Minister for two terms. Even (P.V.) Narsimha Rao ji was prime minister so I don’t understand (why) Mr Narendra Modi has an obsession with my family.
He’s got an obsession with it. He’s more obsessed with my family than I am. He probably says my father’s name more than I do. I don’t know… It’s obviously some issue that he has got. But that’s not really my problem. Even if the prime minister wants to carry hatred around, be angry, that’s not my problem. I am not going to get affected by it. Look I am smiling, I am happy, I am having a nice time…
‘Prem’ dictionary
I sent him (Narendra Modi) a hug on Twitter too. Look there are millions of people in the Congress party and yes, sometimes, they say things that are out of line and when they do I take action. Mani Shankar Aiyar said something that was out of line, I took action. And we are very strict on that. But not one of those things that he mentioned was said by me. Not even one of those things were said by me.
I do say ‘chowkidar chor hai’… It is a bit impolite but the fact of the matter is that the prime minister has stolen money and helped Anil Ambani get Rs 30,000 crore. I am still searching for a more polite way of saying thief. I don’t know if you have a more polite way of saying it. I will find it and use it. So I do say ‘chowkidar chor hai’, it has now become a ‘naara’ in this election.
But Mr Modi does not generate hate in me. He does not generate anger in me. I certainly generate hate in Mr Narendra Modi. I certainly generate anger in him. And whatever anger or hate he has towards me, he can give me and I will embrace it and I will give him love in return. That is what I have been taught.
Also read: Don’t appreciate this nonsense, says Rahul Gandhi of Sam Pitroda’s 1984 Sikh riots remark
Apology in Supreme Court over ‘chowkidar chor hai’
I apologised for a very technical reason. I attributed the ‘naara‘ ‘chowkidar chor hai’ to the Supreme Court, which frankly is not correct. That is wrong because there is a process going on and the Supreme Court has not decided. So I prejudged the Supreme Court and for that I apologised. But in no way have I apologised for saying ‘chowkidar chor hai’. I will say it again right in your camera…if you focus on me… So I don’t apologise for that because it is a fact. It is true. And I believe in saying what is true.
How shamlessly the left media uses the word hindu terror…99% of terror attacks done by muslim..but they never use the word musim/islam terror..but use the world misguided youth..this the point why pm modi have to win…to eliminate this type of nom sense…
Very conveniently he quoted PV and Manmohan Singh were ‘ allowed ‘ to become PMs , so there is no dynasty. We know what fate PV suffered for being an independent PM and Manmohan chose to be Maunmohan willingly surrendering to congress president who was actually a defecto PM. I wonder why these journalists allow this man get away with such unconvincing answers…for examples in this case…why can’t he be asked why congress can’t have a non-dynast as president and whether he thinks he is the BEST person in the party to head?
You, your family, your coterie and your party deserve to be eradicated from public life for inventing the fakery of hindu terror and maligning the 5000 year old peaceful civilization – all for your insidious vote bank politics.
If unemployment is the defining issue of this election – the economy, more broadly – one hopes the Congress President has a blueprint to address it effectively. The fact that China is creating 50,000 jobs each day, a scale India needs to match, suggests a major overhaul of economic policy is required. If his assessment of the changed political mood of the country is accurate, that shows how potent economic issues are in creating and melting mandates.