“I don’t hate Modi”. Rahul Gandhi
September 10,2024
During an interactive session with students and teachers at Georgetown University in Washington DC, US, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi spoke about his rivalry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “You will be surprised… I don’t hate Modi. He has a point of view; I don’t agree with that point of view, but I don’t hate him. He has a different point of view, and I have a different point of view,” Rahul said.
Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi suffered a “psychological defeat” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “He (PM Modi) is a person who was in Gujarat for many years and never faced adverse political circumstances. Then, when he became the Prime Minister of India, suddenly his ideas started to crack,” Rahul Gandhi said
Rahul said, “Then when he said, ‘I talk directly to God’, we understood that we had really upset him, and he was giving up psychologically. People might think that the Prime Minister was just saying, ‘Look, I am special, I am unique, and I talk to God.’ But we did not see it that way. Internally, we saw it as a psychological breakdown of his. He was wondering, ‘Why is everything not working out according to him?'”
The Leader of Opposition said that look at the list of leaders of every business in India. I have worked on this. Show me the Adivasi name, show me the Dalit name, and show me the OBC name. I think one of the top 200 business leaders is an OBC. 50% of India is OBC. We are not paying attention to the root of the problem. This is the issue right now. Reservation is not the only means; there are other means too, but we should think about ending reservation only when India becomes a fair place of equal opportunity. And India does not seem to be a fair place for this right now.
Upper caste and the dream of becoming Ambani-Adani
Rahul Gandhi said- There are many people of upper caste who say, ‘Look, what have we done wrong? Why are we being punished?’ You think about decentralization of power. You think about including many more people in the governance of our country. To be honest, with all due respect, I don’t think any of you are ever going to become Ambani or Adani. And there is a reason for this, you cannot do it, because those doors are closed. So the answer of the general caste people should be to open those doors.
Attempt to implicate Rahul Gandhi in turban controversy: Congress MP and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that the fight in India is not about politics. He said that the fight is whether a Sikh is allowed to wear a turban or a kada in India or not. This is happening not only with Sikhs, but with all religions. Actually, Gandhi had made this comment regarding the increasing religious hatred in India. He said this during a conversation with members of the Indian diaspora in Virginia, America. But in India, the BJP has given it a different twist. The BJP has alleged that Rahul Gandhi has hurt the honor of Sikhs.
The BJP members either do not know English or do not understand the context
After Rahul Gandhi’s statement on turban, the BJP members jumped into the fray. Statements are now coming from all sides on this. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused him of using “hateful words” towards the Sikh community and said, “He (Gandhi) said Sikhs in India are fighting for their identity and the right to practice their religion. Rahul, your dirty politics is sinking the country. You have stooped so low that you allege Sikhs cannot wear turbans and kadas in India… You say Sikhs and gurdwaras are not safe in India.”