KALIABOR: If there was a prime minister of the Congress, the violence in Manipur would have been controlled by the fourth day, party leader Rahul Gandhi claimed on Sunday.
Addressing a rally as part of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Assam's Nagaon district, he claimed that even PM Narendra Modi can control the violence in the Northeastern state within three days with the help of the Army, but the BJP doesn't want to do it.
"Manipur has been burning for several months, but our prime minister hasn't gone there till date. Had it been a Congress PM, he would have gone there in three days and the fire there would have been doused on the fourth day," Gandhi said.
"If the prime minister gives an order to the Army, in three days they can stop it. But, the BJP doesn't want to douse the fire. That's why the PM doesn't go there and order the Army to stop the 'tamasha'," he claimed.
He alleged that the BJP-ruled government in Assam has been threatening people and trying to suppress their voice, but they have shown huge support to the Congress during the Nyay Yatra.
"A handful of people are moving around with BJP flags, but the public is with us," he said.
"Leaders come and go, but those with hearts filled with arrogance and hatred vanish soon," he added.
In an apparent swipe at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Gandhi began his speech by questioning the crowd, "Who is the most corrupt chief minister in Hindustan?"
He said that he asks the same question wherever he goes and gets the same reply, though he did not repeat the name shouted back to him by the crowd.