Cong top guns slam Modi at rally over Citizenship Act

New Delhi: The Congress top brass on Saturday trained their guns at the Modi government over the Citizenship Act, asserting that, if implemented, it will “shred the soul” of India and that the sole agenda of the legislation was to make people fight amongst each other.

At a mega “Bharat Bachao Rally” (Save India) at Ramlila Maidan here, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said: “The Congress and only Congress has always fought for people’s rights. And today too, the Congress Party is not going to retreat. Till our last breath, we will fulfill our duty towards protecting the country, democracy and the Constitution”.

Mrs Gandhi was sharing the stage with top Congress leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and the chief ministers of five Congress-ruled states.

She also targeted the Modi dispensation over the state of the economy and exhorted people to raise their voices to protect the country and its Constitution. “Andher nagri chaupat raja wala mahaul hai (confused leader, chaotic State)… kahaan hai sabka saath sabka vikas (where is ‘with all, development for all’).  What has happened to economy? Where are jobs?” she asked.

She said that the CAA, which was passed last week by the Parliament, had been on the BJP’s agenda for a long time.

“They are not bothered that this new CAA law will shred the soul of India, as is happening in Assam and other northeastern states. It is for India’s soul that our great nation builders and Babasaheb Ambedkar struggled hard, but I can say with confidence that our country’s basic foundation does not allow such discriminatory actions. I assure you that the Congress will stand by all those against whom injustice is done,” she said.

Congress’ general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi said that those who don’t fight the prevailing situation today will go down in history as cowards.

“If you love India, please raise your voice. If we remain silent today, our revolutionary Constitution will be destroyed. The division of the country will start and we will all be as responsible for this division as any corrupt leader of the BJP and the RSS,” she said.

Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi accused Mr Modi of self-promotion.

Priyanka Gandhi said: “At every bus stop, in every newspaper, on every TV channel, one can see that ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ (Everything possible with Modi at the helm). Asliyat ye hai ki BJP hai to Rs 100 kilo ki pyaaz mumkin hai, BJP hai to 45 saal mein sabse zyada berozgari mumkin hai, BJP hai to 4 crore naukriyan nasht hona mumkin hai, BJP hai to 15,000 kisan ki atmahatya mumkin hai....(The fact is under the BJP, it is possible that onion sells Rs 100 a kilo, it’s possible that unemployment is highest in 45 years, it is possible to destroy 4 crore jobs. If the BJP is there, it is possible that 15,000 farmers commit suicide...)”.

Mr Gandhi said PM Modi only “wants to be seen on television all the time” and the people whom he has benefitted by giving them the money “snatched from people”, are the ones funding him for marketing himself on the TV.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P. Chidambaram attacked the government over the economic downturn.

Dr Singh said that the Modi-led has only misled people in the last six years as they “failed” to fulfill the promises made to the youth and farmers of the country.

He raked in the BJP’s poll planks, including employment to youngsters, doubling the farmer’s income and improving the GDP while asserting that none of these promises were fulfilled.

“Six years back Narendra Modi made fake promises to the people of the country. He promised that by 2024, the economy of the country will become 5 trillion. The income of farmers would be doubled in 5 years, youth will get 2 crores job every year. It has now been proved that all the promises were fake and he only misled people,” he said.

Mr Chidambaram said the BJP was pushing the agenda of Golwalkar and Savarkar and not that of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar.

“Today, India is suspect in the eyes of the world. India’s economy is broken, India’s polity is broken and India’s leadership has completely failed us. If it is one person who should bear the responsibility, it is Narendra Modi,” he said.