Chennai: At the sixth edition of ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ in Chennai on Saturday, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continued his ‘vote chori’ campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of using the Election Commission to “steal elections”.
Before reaching the parade ground, Rahul had lunch with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, a day after the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led alliance won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls, defeating candidates of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
Inside the packed venue, young men and women danced and cheered as Rahul walked in, after popular Tamil musicians had entertained the crowd. Tricolour banners and Congress flags lined the grounds, lights illuminated the stage and crackers continued to go off through the event.
Rahul greeted students on the stage warmly, agreeing to their wishes while being referred to as an “elder brother”.Behind the stage, a banner read: ‘A questioning classroom builds a thinking nation.’ Outside, supporters lined the roads and cars queued up for a glimpse of Rahul. A woman sat by the roadside selling framed pictures of the Congress leader.
Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram and Pawan Khera were present, along with several Tamil Nadu Congress leaders and MPs.
Rahul gave students a platform to address their concerns and also accused Modi of attacking democracy and silencing dissent, saying the Prime Minister had failed to understand that his political dominance was nearing its end.
“Modi is destroying India’s democracy. He’s attacking democracy directly. He’s doing vote chori, election chori. He’s silencing voices,” he said.
The LoP while speaking about protests in Delhi said that the national capital had been shut down, internet services suspended and students beaten by police. He also accused BJP workers of assaulting protesters.
“PM Modi is silencing voices; as you saw in Delhi, the entire city was shut down, the internet was shut down, and police were beating students. The BJP also released its own goondas who beat up and thrashed students. The e problem is that Mr Modi does not understand that the game is over. The drama that he’s been doing in this country for the last 15 years is coming to an end,” he said.
He named Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar along with the PM in his speech as well.
“Nobody is going to attack the democratic foundation of India. Nobody is going to attack the Constitution of India and get away without being brought to justice.”
The Congress leader accused the Modi government of attacking Tamil Nadu’s language, culture and history. Referring to Amit Shah’s position on Hindi, he alleged that the Centre was treating Tamil identity as secondary to its own language and traditions.
“He is openly, publicly saying that Tamil culture, Tamil language, your history is secondary to his language, to his history, to his tradition,” Rahul said. “We are not going to let Narendra Modi attack the Tamil language, Tamil history, Tamil culture, nothing. He is not going to touch Tamil Nadu.”
He accused PM Modi of using fear, hatred and division to carry out these attacks, arguing that the issue went beyond language to the state’s culture, traditions and history.
Rahul also criticised the National Education Policy’s three-language formula, stating that the Centre was imposing its choices on Tamil Nadu, which has long defended its two-language policy.
He alleged that the Centre had withheld Rs 3,300 crore meant for the state’s education sector. “Money that is yours, that you should get, is being withheld from you by the government of India.”
He attacked the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), claiming that the share of MBBS seats going to Tamil-medium students had fallen by 87 per cent.
Delimitation, he alleged, was designed to punish Tamil Nadu and reduce its voice in Parliament. “This is a BJP conspiracy,” he said.
Rahul then invoked social reformer Periyar urging students to question what they were told rather than accept it at face value. He also cited poet Thiruvalluvar’s comparison of learning to digging a well, with greater effort yielding more knowledge.
“Curiosity is asking questions. Democracy is your right to ask questions. The Constitution protects your right to ask questions. And the vote ensures that you get answers from the people who lead you, who run your governments.”
Students at the event spoke about caste discrimination and barriers to education. A representative from a free tuition centre in North Chennai, which teaches students about the Constitution and other social issues invited Rahul to their institute, an invite which he accepted.
Rahul urged students not to be afraid of questioning those in power and assured them of the Congress party’s support. “Stand up for everything you believe in. Never stop asking questions and together we are going to demolish Mr Modi,” he promised.