Sonia Gandhi , Congress leaders slam ‘dictatorial’ PM

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a stringent attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of being “dictatorial” and using the smokescreen of development to mask communal agenda.

Castigating the ruling dispensation over a number of incidents like the Dadri lynching and burning of dalit children in Haryana amid the raging debate on intolerance, Ms Sonia, Rahul and other top leaders tried to put the Modi dispensation on the mat.

Ms Gandhi was speaking at the culmination of the year-long 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Jawaharlal Nehru. Training her guns on the Prime Minister, the Congress president said, “Simply because someone holds a different view or disagrees they cannot be branded a traitor. This is neither the way of our democracy nor a form of patriotism. It is a form of dictatorship. Today, we are witnessing attempts by certain individuals and elements to whitewash their communal agenda in front of the world by hiding it behind the mask of development.”

“Development is used as a buzzword, again and again. It is ironic that they speak of development yet fail to learn from the legacy and lessons of the man synonymous with laying the foundation of India’s growth — Nehruji,” she added.

She took on the RSS without naming it, saying it actively opposed Mahatma Gandhi’s “Quit India” call in 1942, along with another group which was responsible for partition, a reference to the Muslim League.

Former Primr Minister Manmohan Singh, criticising the government, said, “There are some forces in India today, which is creating misinformation about Nehru’s role in making new India. It is very necessary for all of us to go to people and tell them once again how big was the contribution of Nehru in making the new India.”

“When leaders like Nehruji were fighting for our freedom, the ideological masters of today’s ruling establishment were hiding safely in their homes while some were even singing praises of their British masters,” Ms Gandhi said.

Attacking the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi said when he is abroad, he says India is tolerant and the government wants to take all sections together but he says nothing of this sort when he is in India.

“The Prime Minister is silent when dalit children are killed in Haryana or when someone is killed in the name of religion in Dadri,” he said.

Accusing Mr Modi, the BJP and RSS of practising unilateralism, Mr Gandhi said the Prime Minister does not take interest in Parliament and though the Opposition raises issues, neither he nor his government bothers to respond, which is in stark contrast to the respect shown by Nehru to his opponents.