Asserting that 60% of India voted for the opposition parties, the senior Congress leader refuted the idea that the majority community was voting for the BJP
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on a tour of Europe, stepped up his attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Narendra Modi-led government, saying that the governing party just aims to get power at any cost and there was nothing “Hindu about their actions”.
During an interaction on Saturday at the Sciences PO University in Paris, a leading social sciences institution in France, Rahul covered a range of topics — his Bharat Jodo Yatrathe Opposition alliance’s fight to defend India’s democratic structures, and changing global order among other key issues. He stressed that the Opposition was committed to fighting for the “soul of India” and the country would “come out just fine” from the current “turbulence”.
“I’ve read the Gita. I’ve read a number of the Upanishads. I’ve read many Hindu books; there is nothing Hindu about what the BJP does, absolutely nothing,” Gandhi said in response to a question about the rise of “Hindu nationalism” in the country during the interaction, a video of which was released on Sunday.
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“I have not read anywhere, in no Hindu book, or heard from any learned Hindu person that you should terrorise, harm people who are weaker than you. So, this idea, this word, Hindu nationalists, this is a wrong word. They’re not Hindu nationalists. They have nothing to do with Hinduism. They are out to get power at any cost, and they will do anything to get power… They want dominance of a few people and that is what they are about. There is nothing Hindu about them,” he added.
The claims that democracy is under attack in India, the voice of the Opposition is being stifled and constitutional institutions are being captured have been among the constant themes of Rahul’s foreign visits. In February-March, the BJP had launched a major offensive against him over his remarks during a visit to the United Kingdom. He had then talked about how democracy in India was “a global public good” and that “if democracy is weakened in India, it is weakened on the planet”. The BJP had accused him of “defaming” India on foreign soil and demanded an apology from him.
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On India-Bharat row, he said that in the Constitution, India is defined as “India that is Bharat, a union of states”.
“So, these states have come together to form India or Bharat. The most important thing is that the voice of all the people who are included in these states is heard loud and clear and no voice is crushed or intimidated,” he added.
The session in Paris, the second European city on his tour after Brussels, was moderated by Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Director of the Centre of International Studies, and chaired by Arancha Gonzalez, Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences PO.
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First published on: 10-09-2023 at 16:47 IST
