Ranchi, Nov 18 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday mocked BJP’s slogan ‘ek rahenge toh safe rahenge’ (if we remain united, we will be safe) by saying that it translated into unity between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and billionaires like Ambani.
The Congress leader also attacked Modi for not visiting Manipur which has been “burning” for the last one-and-a-half years, and alleged that Shah was not taking interest in containing violence in the northeastern state as “vested interests” were at play.
“I will explain the real meaning of BJP’s slogan – ‘ek hai to safe hai’. It is if Modi, Shah and Ambani are ‘ek’ (united), then they are ‘safe’,” Gandhi alleged at a press conference in Ranchi.
He alleged that prime assets of the country, including airports, ports and natural resources, were being handed over to billionaires like Adani and Ambani without following transparent tender processes.
Gandhi asserted that caste census was a must for the country and it will provide wealth distribution data, helping the Congress to take accurate decisions.
A caste census will reveal the place of SCs, STs, OBCs, who are 73 per cent of India’s population, in the country’s power structure, he said, adding that the survey will lead to the country’s development and transformation.
“This is a battle of ideologies: on one hand is the INDIA bloc which is protecting the Constitution and wants to run a government of poor, Dalits and Adivasis. On the other hand are those powers that want to crush the Constitution, finish it. This is what senior leaders of BJP and RSS have said,” he alleged.
“I had said in the Lok Sabha that the Congress and INDIA bloc will conduct caste census to know the percentage of Dalits, Adivasis and backward communities, and their participation in different institutions. I also said that the 50 per cent cap on reservations will be removed by the Congress and INDIA bloc,” Gandhi said.
He alleged that the Prime Minister is lying when he says that Rahul Gandhi is against reservations.
“I am not against reservations, I want to increase it beyond 50 per cent,” he said.
On Manipur, he said that the entire country is watching what is happening in the northeastern state.
“Manipur has been burning for the last one-and-a-half years but PM Modi did not visit the state even once. I went there and saw the situation and urged the government to control the violence. The Home Minister should have done his work but he is not taking interest… some vested interest is at play,” he alleged.
Gandhi, however, did not provide any evidence to back his allegations.
