BJP disturbing idea of India, elected govts, says Rahul

COIMBATORE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked BJP as a party that disturbs the ‘idea of India’ and topples elected governments.

“What right the BJP and RSS have to topple government after government elected by the people of India. Why should Governors have the right to interfere in opposition ruled states? Are they elected by the people of the states?” he asked, while addressing a public meeting in Gudalur as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Claiming that the BJP wants to impose one language and one culture on the entire nation, Gandhi said that every state, culture and language has its place in this beautiful country and they shouldn’t be disrespected.

“There should be unity in diversity and not uniformity. But, there are some people, some organisations that want to mix hatred, violence and anger in this beautiful river of India to create disturbances. We will not allow them to disturb the idea of India, where there is no hatred or disrespect and people could speak any language. We will not allow them to disrespect any state, any language and any idea,” he said.

Further, Rahul Gandhi said that anger and hatred spread by the BJP has resulted in the highest level of unemployment and high prices the country has ever seen resulting in huge suffering for farmers, labourers and MSMEs.

“The national government should work in partnership with the state governments by respecting all cultures and all languages in the country. But what right does the BJP have by not paying GST on time to states, which owes this money?” he asked.

Terming the implementation of GST and demonetisation as a disaster that harmed businesses and made life more complicated, Gandhi said these two policies did not help the farmers, workers and small businesses.

“They helped only two or three biggest businesses in India. The BJP is taking money out of your pockets and giving it to a select few people,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi, who arrived at the hill district from Wayanad on Thursday early morning, also met delegations from various organisations. After an overnight stay in Gudalur, Gandhi is likely to proceed towards Karnataka on Friday morning.