‘BJP wanted to create a dispute between India and Bharat’: Rahul Gandhi

Jaipur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to create a dispute between India and Bharat and this was the reason why they called a special session of the Parliament, but stopped it and brought the Women’s Reservation Bill.

“When the government called for the special session, there was no mention of the Women’s Reservation Bill. Discussions on changing the name of the country were doing rounds. They wanted to create a dispute between India and Bharat,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“The constitution says, ‘India that is Bharat…’. Later, they understood that the public would not accept this. Now that they had called for a special session, they needed to have some agenda. So, they brought up the Women’s Reservation Bill. We did support the bill, it was brought by Rajiv Gandhiji (Former Prime Minister) into the Panchayati system,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi started the election campaign with the worker’s conference in Rajasthan. In the workers’ conference in Jaipur, he promised that if the government comes to power at the Centre, women’s reservations will be given immediately.

It is worth mentioning that the Women’s Reservation Bill cleared its final legislative hurdle at the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with 214 members voting in support and none against.

Earlier on Wednesday, the bill was shown the green flag by the Lok Sabha with the brute majority of 454 votes in favour and just 2 against.

The Rajya Sabha had earlier passed the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2010 during the Congress-led UPA government but it was not taken up in the Lok Sabha and subsequently lapsed in the lower House of Parliament.

He said that the entire opposition supported women’s reservation adding that they too wanted women’s reservation to be implemented from today itself, but BJP wants to implement it after 10 years.

“I want to ask them why there is no provision for reservation to the OBCs. Let me tell you one thing, 33 per cent of reservations to women in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha can be granted today. But they made a pretence. It will be provided after 10 years. We want it to get implemented today”, he added.

The Congress leader also attacked the central government over allegations against the Adani group stating that the latter is afraid to talk about the Adani issue.

“A few days back, I gave a speech in the parliament on the Adani matter. Earlier, they used to turn off our mics, but now they have started turning off the cameras too. My Lok Saha membership got cancelled. For the first time, someone got the maximum punishment in a defamation case. Why? Because ‘darr lagta hai’. Just mention ‘Adani’ before a BJP worker, he will run away. Ask them what is the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adaniji, and they will flee away”, the Waynad MP said while addressing a public gathering in Rajasthan’s Jaipur.

It is worth mentioning that Rahul Gandhi has been questioning the central government over the allegations against the Adani group on the basis of the Hindenburg report which earlier claimed accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens by the business giant, Adani group.

Taking a jibe at the central government over the caste census, the Congress leader said, “Ahead of my speech in the parliament, I did some research. I found out that the country is being operated by the Prime Minister along with his 90 officers. I further dove into how many OBCs are amongst them. There are only three OBCs among the 90 officers who decide on merely five per cent of the total budget. They have no power”.

“The answer to how many people are there in the different sections of the society can be figured out through the caste census. Why the PM is afraid of the cast census?” he asked.

“Ask the BJP workers why they are not in favour of conducting a cast census and how much benefit the Prime Minister gave to Adaniji. Be truthful. Nafrat ke bazar mein mohabbat ki dukan kholiye (Let us open shops of love in a market of hate)”, Rahul Gandhi added.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi lauded the Rajasthan Government’s efforts in providing accessible healthcare services.

“I went to talk to porters in Delhi. They had seen a video of mine and called me for a talk. They told me how the Rajasthan government saved their lives by providing accessible healthcare services. In Rajasthan, we opened 3,600 English medium schools, we provided healthcare services. We provided domestic gas cylinders at Rs 500,” he said.

The assembly elections in Rajasthan are due later this year, with the BJP setting sights on wresting power from the ruling Congress.

In the 2008 Assembly polls, the Congress secured 100 seats, one short of securing an absolute majority. It formed the government in alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).