A day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s “Two India” remark lead to an outrage in the parliament, Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over their “rule of only one ideology in the country”.
Gandhi, while addressing a programme in Raipur, said, “This country is like a bouquet of different ideologies ...The ideology, history and culture in one state is different from the other. But if we say that there will be only one ideology in the whole country then it will be wrong. This will harm the country,” the Wayanad MP said.
“The BJP and RSS want that only their ideology should rule over all the states, languages and history in the country which can never happen,” said Gandhi, while accusing the BJP of spreading hatred in the country in the name of religion. “They are creating fights between different states and different religions. The powers outside India look at us and say that India is getting weak,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and spokesperson Sacchinand Upasane criticised Gandhi’s remarks. He said, “Everyone knows how Congress had sown the seeds of hatred in this country... Instead of talking about ideologies, Rahul Gandhi should have talked about Chhattisgarh and it’s development ...Nothing has been done since Congress formed the government here.”
“Yesterday, I had said in Lok Sabha that India is facing two-three big challenges. BJP and its ideology are taking our country towards danger… the biggest threat is that today the BJP has been dividing the country into two. One part comprises of selected billionaires, where everything is available, including wealth and technology. The second constitutes of crores of our dear countrymen,” he said.
“They think that by creating this division, the country which belongs to the poor will become powerless. They think the poor of the country are afraid. But they are not, they are the ones who have built the country,” Gandhi said.
During his visit, Gandhi also launched the state government’s ‘Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Bhoomihin Krishi Majdoor Nyay Yojana’ under which landless labourers will be given a financial assistance of ₹6000 per year in three instalments. The first instalment of ₹2,000 was deposited into the bank accounts of nearly 3.55 lakh families during the launch.
He also laid foundation stone for ‘Gandhi Sevagram’ ashram and Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti’. The ashram will be set up in Nava Raipur and the memorial in Mana Camp area here for soldiers who were killed in the line of duty.
Gandhi also attended a seminar on Mahatma Gandhi here at Science College Ground, Raipur.
During the seminar, he said “…for me Mahatma Gandhi is not just a person. To me, he was a tapasvi (ascetic) who devoted his whole life to tapasya. Many people do tapasya but he has also added truth to it..” he said.
“An ascetic should not be worshipped. The message of an ascetic is to do tapasya and follow the path shown by him..I can fold my hands in front of Gandhi ji, offer flowers. I can worship him but that does not make any sense unless I am not ready to do what he has said,” he said. “ Just bowing my head with folded hands in front of him is like insulting him. You must have seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and others doing this. But they do not understand them. Be it Dr BR Ambedkar or Gandhi, they were both ascetics and spent their whole life in search of truth,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)