SHILLONG: Firing on all cylinders at a huge rally in the city on Wednesday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the BJP has been successful in buying some Congress MLAs in the state but the party’s ploy to appease minorities by offering crores of rupees to churches in the state has come a cropper. The BJP was arrogant enough to believe that “they can buy church, religion and even God. Their level of arrogance is disgusting,” he said.
Gandhi slammed the BJP saying the saffron party considers Meghalaya to be a central part of India whereas the Congress believes “Meghalaya is India, India is Meghalaya”.
Stating that the Congress is always open to different ideas and embraces the concept of unity in diversity, the Congress chief said the BJP believes there are certain ideas that should be imposed on the entire country.
“They believe their central idea should dominate all other ideas, cultures, languages and religions and this is our fight with them,” he maintained.
Citing recent instances of burning of churches in Madhya Pradesh, he said people in that state get bashed up for singing Christmas carols and added that an atmosphere of fear and intimidation prevails in BJP ruled Gujarat.
“There is a tremendous increase in instances of discrimination and humiliation with people from Meghalaya and other North-Eastern states,” he said. “Recently, in Delhi three young Garo boys, Tangrikam, Kadimara and Nanang, were subject to incessant harassment and threats by their landlady because they did not look ‘Indian’ enough. The truth is the BJP and RSS are afraid of the power of the people.”
Gandhi urged the audience at the rally to send the message across to the BJP that not only Meghalaya but the entire country cannot be bought and the cultures of peoples cannot be taken away from them.
“We will sing and play any song we like because the people of Meghalaya will not sing only those songs that Mohan Bhagwat and Narendra Modi like,” he asserted.
Congratulating Mukul Sangma for his glittering track record as chief minister, the Congress chief underlined the many development projects initiated during the tenure of the present government in the realms of infrastructure development, literacy, healthcare facilities, and generation of alternative sources of income – many of the same achievements he had highlighted during his address at a rally on Tura on Tuesday.
