LUCKNOW: Visiting his parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli for the first time after the Delhi assembly election outcome, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday, claimed that the BJP would have lost the 2024 Lok Sabha polls had the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joined the INDIA bloc.
Questioning the political strategy of the BSP chief, Rahul Gandhi asked, “Why does Mayawati not contest elections properly? We asked her to join the INDIA bloc but she refused. If all three parties including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP had come together, the BJP would not have won.” However, it may be recalled that the Samajwadi Party had opposed the inclusion of Mayawati in the alliance in UP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
While interacting with a group of Dalit students of his constituency during his two-day visit to Rae Bareli, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also highlighted the contribution of Dalits to the country's Constitution.
“Dr BR Ambedkar lacked facilities, yet he shook the entire political system,” he said. Naming some top private companies among the country's major 500 firms,
Gandhi asked the youth how many of these companies were headed by Dalits. When a young person responded "None," Rahul Gandhi asked, "Why not?" Another young person replied, "We lack enough facilities."
However, in disagreement, Rahul Gandhi cited Dr Ambedkar, who, he claimed, had no facilities and was alone in his efforts, yet he made a palpable and noticeable impact on the country's politics.
He said that the Dalits had faced discrimination for thousands of years. ‘’Ambedkar kept this (discrimination) in mind when he prepared our Constitution....he gave power to the Dalits through the Constitution,’’ the Congress leader said. ‘’Every Dalit is an Ambedkar,” he added.
The former AICC chief stated that there was an entire system which did not want the Dalits to progress. "The system attacks you every day, and more than half the time, you don't even realise how it's attacking you," said Rahul Gandhi adding that they needed to understand that the ideology of the Constitution was their ideology.
“I can guarantee you that if there were no Dalits in this country, there would be no Constitution. It's your ideology, it's your Constitution, but wherever you go, you are crushed," he stated.
Earlier, Rahul reached Lucknow on Thursday morning taking road route to Rae Bareli. He first visited the Hanuman Temple at Churwa border and proceeded to Bachhrawan. In Bachhrawan, Rahul Gandhi addressed a party workers’ meeting.
Accusing the ruling BJP of trying to divert people’s attention from real issues, Rahul Gandhi urged the party workers to keep working hard at the booth level for better performance in future. He alleged that inflation had zoomed significantly, and the BJP government was promoting only capitalists. He also alleged that measures like GST and demonetisation had led to an increase in unemployment.
“If the Central government will work with honesty, crores of youth can get jobs,” he said.
Evading a direct reply on his participation in Mahakumbh, the Congress MP said “namaskar” and moved on.