UP Election 2022: Rahul Gandhi targets BJP from Amethi; rakes up ‘Hindu vs Hindutvavadi’ issue again

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi today led a ‘Pratigya Padyatra’ against the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. Addressing people on the occasion, Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath work to distract people from main issues like unemployment and inflation. This was Rahul Gandhi’s second visit to Amethi since the 2019 Lok Sabha poll defeat at the hands of BJP’s Smriti Irani. He said that Amethi’s every street is the same even today.

“Every street of Amethi is still the same even today – only that now there’s anger against the government in people’s eyes. There is still a place in the hearts even today, we are still one today – against injustice!” said Rahul Gandhi.

He alleged that while China has encroached upon Indian land, PM Modi is silent on the issue. “Sometimes Modi will take a bath in the Ganga, sometimes he will go to Kedarnath and sometimes he will make planes land on the highway. Narendra Modi and Yogi work to distract people. Today, China’s army has snatched 1000 km of India’s land in Ladakh, but PM is silent,” he said.

Hitting out at the BJP government, Rahul said that neither the CM nor the PM answers the question of unemployment and inflation. “Middle-class people and the poor were badly affected by some of the decisions taken by the PM, which also resulted in large scale unemployment….Small businesses give jobs but the Prime Minister has started attacking them. First attack was demonetisation, second attack was GST and third attack was no assistance during Corona period,” said the former Congress president.

Addressing the crowd, he said that unemployment and inflation are the biggest questions that neither the CM nor PM will answer. Rahul Gandhi said that PM Modi brought farm laws saying it was for the benefit of farmers. “After one year, when all farmers stood together against the laws, PM had to apologise. We questioned about the compensation for farmers who died in the protest, but he said no farmers died in the protest,” said Rahul Gandhi.

Later addressing a rally in Jagdishpur of Amethi, Rahul Gandhi again raked up the Hindu and Hindutva issue.

“A ‘Hindutvavadi’ bathes alone in Ganga, while a Hindu bathes with crores of people. On one side, there is truth and another side is a lie. On one side is love and another side is hate. On one side, there is non-violence then on another side is violence…Narendra Modi says he is a Hindu, but when did he protect the truth?” said Rahul Gandhi.

Defining the Hindu, Rahul Gandhi said, “…Hindu- It’s someone who only follows the path of truth, the one who never gives up to fear, and the one who never converts his fear into violence, hate and anger… Its best example is Mahatma Gandhi….Mahatma Gandhi spent all his life understanding truth and then there is Godse- ‘Hindutvavadi’. Nobody calls him a Mahatma because he killed a Hindu who always spoke the truth…Godse was a coward, a weak man… he could not face his fears.”