Wayanad: India did not get freedom from the British to be colonised by the ideology of the RSS, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Monday.
“We want India to be ruled by all people of the country,” Rahul, who is seeking re-election to Lok Sabha from Kerala’s Wayanad constituency said. He was addressing the people of the constituency at Sulthan Bathery after a massive road show. The road show kickstarted his two-day whistle-stop campaign tour in the constituency.
Addressing the packed audience, Rahul came out heavily on the BJP-RSS ideology, a favourite political theme he repeats in his rallies. “If the BJP and its PM say ‘one nation, one people, one language and one leader’, it is because of the fundamental misunderstanding of our country. A language is not something that is imposed from the top, but it is something that comes from inside, from the heart of one person,” he said.
Rahul pointed out that it is an insult to the people of Kerala to tell a person that their language is inferior to another language. “It is like saying, that what is coming out of your heart is inferior to what is coming from the heart of a person from Uttar Pradesh. Malayalam is not just a language, it is your link to your civilization. It is the same for history, culture, religion, language; these things emerge from inside of a person,” he said.
Comparing the people of the nation with flowers of a multi-colour bouquet, Rahul said, “It is like looking at a bouquet and telling the red rose that we don’t like you as you are red and that we want you to be white.”
“India is like a bouquet of flowers. Every flower has to be respected because every flower promotes the beauty of a bouquet. Referring to the extreme focus on Narendra Modi by the BJP, as the NDA’s PM candidate, Rahul said the idea that “India should have only one leader" is an insult to every Indian.
He also assured the people to resolve the issues of human-animal conflict, night traffic ban, delay in the Nilambur-Nanjangud railway project and the lack of emergency medical care facilities.
On the railway project, he said it would be very easy to resolve the problem when the Congress comes to power in Delhi. “We are not in government in Delhi and in Kerala and the reality is that both these governments are showing step-motherly treatment to Wayanad,” he said.
Accompanied by AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and Leader of the Opposition in Kerala V D Satheesan, Rahul Gandhi started the campaign at Thaloor, a border hamlet on the Tamil Nadu border. There he met plantation workers and students of the Nilgiri College of Arts and Science. During the tour, he is scheduled to attend more than a dozen programmes in Wayanad district. He will be participating in a road show at the drought-hit Pulpally-Mullankolly region and meeting church leaders at the Bishop House in Mananthavadi. He will also visit religious centres and farmers. He will attend a UDF campaign meeting scheduled at Kozhikode beach in the evening.
On Tuesday, Rahul is scheduled to visit the Thiruvambadi (Kozhikode), Ernad, Wandur and Nilambur assembly constituencies (all in Malappuram district). This would be his last mass contact programme in the constituency before the polls on April 26.