Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, 25 August, alleged that the judiciary and Election Commission were being “torn apart” under the BJP government and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept silent on grave issues confronting the nation.
Addressing the Indian Overseas Congress in London, he said the prime minister insulted every Indian by saying that nothing had happened in the last 70 years.
However, according to a report from PTI, before the Congress president's last public meeting in the UK, three pro-Khalistan supporters entered the event venue and tried to disrupt the proceedings, but were escorted out by the Scotland Yard.
India shows the future to the world. The people of India made this possible, and the Congress helped them. If the prime minister says nothing had happened before he assumed office, he is not commenting on the Congress, he is insulting every person of the country.Rahul Gandhi, Congress President
‘Marginalised People Betrayed’
Gandhi alleged that at present, Dalits, farmers, tribal people, minorities, the poor in India are told they will not get anything, and “if they raise their voice, they are beaten up”.
The SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act has been "destroyed, and scholarships have been discontinued," he claimed.
"Today in India, people are discriminated against on the basis of caste and religion. The marginalised are betrayed, while people like Anil Ambani benefit," he alleged.
On Rafale Deal
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on the Rafale deal, Gandhi said that the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had been manufacturing aircraft for the last 50 years, but the contract was given to "someone who floated his company just 19 days before the deal".
"Nobody will get anything. Only Ambani will get everything. This man has accrued a debt of Rs 45,000 crore," the Congress president alleged.
Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government for allegedly inking the deal at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated to benefit "one businessman".
Facing allegations of getting undue benefits from the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has sent legal notices to several Congress leaders asking them to "cease and desist" from levelling such charges.
Reliance Group has denied the allegations concerning the deal under which France’s Dassault is supplying the fighter jets, and has entered into a joint venture with an Anil Ambani-led group firm to meet its offset requirement of the contract.
‘PM Could Not Answer My Questions’
When the farmers of Karnataka and Telangana ask for loan waiver, PM Modi says this is not our policy. India’s handful of richest businessmen have NPAs of Rs 12.5 lakh crore, but the prime minister says nothing.
He alleged that the prime minister kept quiet "when his own party's MLA raped a woman and when Nirav Modi ran away with people's money."
“I do not use bad language for the prime minister. And if you have listened to the debate on the Rafale deal in Parliament, you would have seen that the PM could not answer my questions,” he said.
Gandhi said China creates 50,000 jobs a day, while India creates only 450, and unemployment was a pressing issue.
“Our farmers need help. Our youth needs education, elderly people need healthcare. But, there is no discussion on the issues of farmers, education and healthcare,” he said.
Lauding the contribution of non-resident Indians in the development of the country, he said, "Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru were all NRIs. They travelled the world and helped India with new perspectives."
Khalistani Supporters Try to Disrupt Rahul Gandhi’s Event
Before the Congress president's address in London, three pro-Khalistan supporters entered the event venue and tried to disrupt the proceedings, but were escorted out by the Scotland Yard before Gandhi's arrival.
A group of three Khalistani activists managed to enter the event and started shouting Khalistan Zindabad' when Scotland Yard officers tried to escort them out of the venue before the Opposition leader had arrived for his final engagement at the end of a two-day visit to the UK.
Gandhi’s foreign tour also whipped up controversy due to the various remarks that he made against the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Speaking at an interactive segment of his ‘India and the World’ event at the House of Commons complex in London, Gandhi sounded the poll bugle and said that his party will win the 2019 general elections by building a "formidable alliance" to fight the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
At the same event, Gandhi courted controversy by saying he didn’t agree that the Congress was involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
(With PTI inputs.)
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