Nava Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Flaying BJP leaders for coming out in support of the Adani Group in Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday likened the business conglomerate to the British East India Company and said the party would keep raising questions about its business practices until the truth comes out.
He also said the party should formulate a new plan to carry forward the “tapasya” undertaken through the Bharat Jodo Yatra and that he, along with the entire country, will participate in it, indicating another such initiative.
Launching a strong attack on the government on the Adani issue, he charged that the industrialist was working against the country by cornering its entire wealth.
The US-based Hindenburg Research had made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the Adani Group.
The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
Addressing the 85th plenary session of the Congress here, Gandhi said, “When we asked in Parliament what is the prime minister’s relation with Adani, our entire speech was expunged. We will ask in Parliament thousands of times until the truth of Adani ji is out, we will not stop.” His remark drew a round of applause.
“I want to tell Adani that his company is hurting the country and is snatching the entire infrastructure of country,” the former Congress president charged.
“The battle for the country’s freedom was against one company as it had taken away all wealth and ports, etc.,” he said, referring to the British East India Company.
“History is being repeated. This is work against the country and if that happens the entire Congress party will stand against it,” he said.
Referring to his Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said lakhs of people participated in the foot march and he learnt a lot during it.
He said first he used to share his knowledge with farmers, but then he started listening. “By the time I reached Jammu and Kashmir, I turned quiet,” he said.
He said that as the march entered Kashmir, thousands of people joined it. “A boy asks me when the people of Kashmir are hurting and in pain, why are others in the country happy? I told him that it is not so,” he said.
He said the moment the march entered the valley, police personnel vanished but he saw “tiranga” (the national tricolour) being raised by thousands of people of Kashmir, even in areas the worst affected by terrorism.
“The Kashmiri youths have tiranga in their hands and CRPF people said they had never seen this before…. We saw the PM’s speech in Parliament and he said he also unfurled the national flag in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk along with a few BJP people…. I said he did not understand the issue.
“Narendra Modi hoisted the flag at Lal Chowk, but the Bharat Jodo Yatra made thousands of Kashmiris unfurl the national flag. PM did not understand (it)…. You took away the feeling of love for Indian tricolour from the people of Kashmir, but we made them unfurl it,” he said.
“The love for the national flag comes from the heart and we made Kashmiris unfurl the flag on their own after we awakened the feeling inside them as they trusted us,” Gandhi said, amid a loud applause.
Not nationalism but cowardice: Rahul on Jaishankar’s China remarks
In a scathing attack on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his recent remarks on China did not show nationalism but cowardice and that these were in line with V D Savarkar’s ideology of “bowing before the strong”.
Addressing the 85th plenary session of the Congress here, Gandhi also claimed that his party leaders and workers were “satyagrahis” while the BJP and RSS people were “satta grahis” (power seekers).
“I want to tell you something about the government’s thinking. A few days ago, in an interview, a minister said that China’s economy is bigger than India so how can we fight them. When the British ruled over us was their economy smaller than ours,” Gandhi said, without naming Jaishankar.
Does this mean that one doesn’t take on anyone who is stronger and only takes on those who are weaker, he said.
“This is cowardice. It is (V D) Savarkar’s ideology that if someone is stronger than you, bow before them. India’s minister is stating that your economy is bigger than us so we cannot stand up to you. Is this nationalism? Is this patriotism?” the former Congress president said.
“What kind of patriotism is this that you beat someone weaker than you and bow before the strong,” Gandhi said.
“There is a word for it. Mahatma Gandhi used to talk of satyagraha. Satyagraha means don’t leave the path of truth. There is a new word for the people of the RSS and the BJP. We are satyagrahis, they are ‘satta grahis’. They will do anything for satta (power), they would align with anyone, bow before anyone for power. This is their truth,” he said.
The Congress has slammed Jaishankar for his reported remarks.
“They are the bigger economy, what I am going to do? I am a smaller economy. Am I going to sort of pick up a fight with a bigger economy? It is not a question of reacting. It is a question of common sense. It is in our interest to stabilise our borders or a situation, it is not out of love, affection or sentiment,” Jaishankar had reportedly said.
