LUCKNOW: Continuing with his tirade against 'Hindutva', former president of Congress party and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday held 'Hindutvawadis' directly responsible for the issues plaguing the country at present.
Addressing a public rally during his 6-km long padayatra in Amethi, his erstwhile parliamentary constituency, the Congress leader said rising inflation, pain and sadness in the country were due to the Hindutawadis while seeking to differentiate between Hindu and Hindutvawadi.
"Today, if there is mehangai (inflation), pain, sadness in our country, it is the handiwork of the Hindutvawadis," said Rahul Gandhi while launching an attack on the BJP. He added that the battle of the day was between satyagraha , the Hindus and Sattagrahis (power seekers) , the Hindutvawadi. Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Amethi.
Amid the mega foundation laying ceremony of Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader arrived at his lost bastion Amethi after nearly two and a half years for the first time since he lost his fort to BJP in 2019.
The brother-sister duo arrived in Lucknow on Saturday morning and reached Amethi by road. State Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu also joined them for the padayatra from Ramlila ground in Jagdishpur to Harimau.
The padayatra is a part of the Congress’s nationwide campaign 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan' launched on November 14 to expose the alleged mismanagement of the economy by the Centre. Additionally, Rahul Gandhi also held 'chaupals' in rural areas.
While interacting with the people, the Congress leader claimed Amethi to be his home and that no one could oust him from there.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Modi, Rahul Gandhi said while the PM took a dip in the Ganga river, but he tended to keep mum on issues such as unemployment.
"Why can't people get employment in the country today? Why inflation is increasing so quickly?" Rahul Gandhi asked. He said the central government remained busy in marketing to divert public attention from important issues. He reiterated that the PM was working to benefit a few of his capitalist friends at the cost of youth who were deprived of the jobs as the small traders were allegedly being targeted by the Modi government.
The Congress leader claimed that China had grabbed Indian land in Laddakh and made it its own. “But the prime minister did not say anything. The PM says that no land has been taken. After a while, the Defense Ministry says that land has been taken," Rahul Gandhi said.
Rahul had represented Amethi, a stronghold of the Nehru-Gandhi family, for 15 years in Lok Sabha. However, in 2019, he was defeated in Amethi by the BJP Smriti Irani by 55,120 votes.