SHILLONG, Feb 22: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and its ideological partner RSS of trying to destroy the culture, tradition and religion of the people in Meghalaya.
Addressing a public rally at the Malki Ground on Wednesday, he said Congress would not allow the ideology of the BJP to harm the local language, tradition, religion, culture and history.
Stating that India is not a hateful, violent and angry country, Gandhi likened the BJP to a “class bully” who torments everyone in the classroom until the day when he is taught a lesson. “The BJP and RSS are bullies who think they know and understand everything and have no respect for others. We need to fight them collectively but through non-violence, love, affection and respect for each other’s traditions, cultures, languages and religions,” he said.
Gandhi said the BJP has been attacking all states and union territories from Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Meghalaya. He called the party anti-tribal and anti-minorities.
Panning the imposition of one idea and one culture, he said Congress will always resist such moves.
He also slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC), saying the history of violence in West Bengal is known to everyone.
Referring to the Saradha scam, Gandhi said the TMC spent hugely on the Goa elections with the motive of helping the BJP and “this is exactly what are doing” in Meghalaya.
“The TMC’s idea in Meghalaya is to ensure that the BJP is strengthened and comes to power,” he said, calling the Mamata Banerjee-headed party as the ‘B team’ of the saffron party.
The Congress leader faulted the NPP-led MDA on governance and cited the collapse of the dome of the new Assembly building to underline the kind of corruption taking place in Meghalaya.
“Was the dome collapsed on purpose so they could spend more money by rebuilding it?” he asked.
“The same thing happened during COVID. So, when the state required support for protection, the government was busy stealing money owed to the people in Meghalaya who died due to COVID,” Gandhi said.
“There was also the rice scam where almost 1 lakh bags of rice meant for PDS in Meghalaya were found in Assam and of course, Rs 650 crore taken away from you by way of 13 lakh metric tons of coal mined illegally,” he said.
