Rahul Gandhi addressed the crowd at Congress’ Bharat Bachao Rally in New Delhi on Saturday, 14 December, reiterating that he would not apologise, amid a controversy over his ‘rape in India’ remark.
“My name is not Rahul Savarkar, it is Rahul Gandhi. I will not apologise for having said something right. Modi should be the one asking for forgiveness from the nation. Modi’s assistant Amit Shah should be asking for forgiveness,” Gandhi said at the rally.
Referring to demonetisation, Gandhi said that by appearing that day on television and announcing that he would be discontinuing 500 rupee notes, Modi had dealt a heavy blow to India’s economy.
He added that, till this day, India was still suffering from the consequences of that decision and that Modi had single-handedly destroyed the economy.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM RAHUL GANDHI’S SPEECH
- “My name is not Rahul Savarkar, it is Rahul Gandhi. I will not apologise for having said something right.”
- “Prime Minister Narendra and his assistant Amit Shah should be seeking forgiveness.”
- “Narendra Modi has dealt a blow to the Indian economy single-handedly through demonetisation and implementation GST.”
- “There was a time when this country was growing at 9 percent, people called India and China ‘Chindia’ and spoke of the success story, but look at us today.”
“All the enemies of India wanted to destroy the economy of India but not an enemy, in fact, the prime minister of the nation did the job,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi also attacked industrialists Gautam Adani and Anil Ambani. He said that in the last five years, Modi had given Adani 50 contracts. He also alleged that Modi had taken money and given it to a few of his friends.
Talking about the chaos in the Northeast over the Citizenship Act, Gandhi said that Modi had set the country on fire.
“The country knows the situation today. They work to create divides – between religions – in J&K, in Northeast. Go to Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh. Go and see what Narendra Modi did there, he has set ablaze those regions,” Gandhi said.
Where is ‘Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas’?
Sonia Gandhi also addressed the crowd at the rally on Saturday, lashing out at the BJP.
“Today, the whole country is asking where is 'Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas'? Where is employment today? Where is the black money? Who has it?” she asked.
Referring to scams, and the recent most PMC bank scam, she said that nowadays, people’s money is not safe even in the banks. “Is this Modi's Achhe Din?” Sonia questioned.
We see the Modi government destroying the Constitution with each passing day, she added, saying that they are not concerned about constitutional organisations and that their agenda is to divide the people and hide the real issues.
“Today the atmosphere is such that whenever they feel like they impose an Article, revoke an Article, change the status of a state. Whenever they feel like, they revoke President's Rule & pass Bills without debate,” she lashed out.
“We are ready to sacrifice anything for democracy, and Constitution. Congress has always fought for the rights of the people. We will fight till our last breath for our saving our nation and Constitution,” she added as she addressed the crowd.
‘Country of Love and Non-Violence’
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed Congress’ ‘Bharat Bachao Rally’ at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Saturday, saying, “This is the country of love and non-violence.”
She went on talk about the state of India’s economy, saying that while people were losing their livelihood, essential commodities were becoming more expensive.
“Today, unemployment is rising, factories are shutting down. Such laws are being made which are unconstitutional,” Priyanka said.
Using BJP’s well-known tagline ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’, Priyanka said that whether it was Rs 100/kg onion, the highest unemployment rate in 45 years, 15,000 farmers killing themselves, loss of 4 crore jobs – it was all possible under the BJP.
She went on to say that if people do not raise their voice now then the country’s Constitution will be destroyed and urged everyone to stand united against the government.
Support, Strengthen Congress: Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that roughly six years ago, Modi had showed big dreams and made promises to the people, which he had failed to keep.
He said that the promises include India’s economy touching $5 trillion by 2024, doubling farmers' income and generating employment for 2 crore youth each year. Singh further said that it has now been proven that these promises were false and the people of the country were misled.
He further said Congress under Sonia Gandhi should be strengthened and urged people to support her, so the country would move forward together.
“We can give the country direction together,” Singh said.
Speaking at the rally, Jyotiraditya Scindia recited a few lines from a famous poem, implying that while the BJP was saying that everything was rosy and fine, these figures were all false and the claim has no basis in reality.
Congress leader P Chidambaram was also present at the venue. Speaking at the rally, he said, “In six months, the Modi government has wrecked India's economy. Yet ministers are completely clueless. Yesterday, the Finance Minister said everything's alright, we're on top of the world. The only thing she didn't say was 'achhe din aane wale hain’.”
Top party leaders will also address the rally and highlight the “failures” of the Modi government and its alleged attempt to divide the country and its people.
‘Save India From Divisiveness’
The party's Overseas Congress will join the Bharat Bachao Rally through demonstrations around the world.
"Our message to save India from divisiveness, arrogance and incompetence will be spread worldwide," the Overseas Congress said.
Top Congress leaders including Ahmed Patel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, KC Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and Avinash Pande visited the Ramlila grounds and made an assessment of the preparations for the rally, PTI reported.
Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra claimed that over 50,000 people from the city will take part in the protest.
Delhi Congress chief spokesperson Mukesh Sharma said lakhs of party workers and people from other parts of the country will attend the rally, according to PTI.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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