The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Opposition Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) are paving the way for the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to push their “one ideology” agenda in Mizoram, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on October 17.
Addressing journalists in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl and a campaign rally for his party later, Mr. Gandhi urged the people of the Christian-majority State not to vote for the BJP, MNP, and the ZPM if they want to protect their religion, culture, and languages.
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“The MNF and ZPM are the entry points and platform for the RSS and BJP in Mizoram,” he said, insisting the two regional parties were the facilitators of the uniform ideology that the BJP-RSS combine wants to impose across the country.
“They want one religion, one language and one culture. We want all cultures, all religions, and all languages to be protected. The BJP has been trying to capture all institutions of the country. The RSS believes in one ideology. We do not accept this,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi said that the November 7 Assembly election would be about protecting the idea and culture of Mizoram from the BJP-RSS onslaught. “Other States in the Northeast are also being attacked by the BJP-RSS,” he added.
Referring to his visit to the ethnic violence-hit Manipur in June, he said that the BJP was using local parties to further the RSS ideology in Manipur.
“For the first time in my political career, I saw Manipur sharply divided on ethnic lines. Meiteis are not going to Kuki areas and the Kuki people are not going to Meitei-inhabited areas,” the Congress leader said.
“The politics of division and hatred needs to be repaired... I still cannot understand why the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] has not visited Manipur although as a leader of the country it was his primary responsibility to visit the State,” he added.
Karnataka, Rajasthan model
Seeking another chance for Congress, Mr. Gandhi said his party – as a component of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) – would adopt the Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Rajasthan model of governance if it comes to power at the Centre in 2024.
He said while Rajasthan’s ₹25-lakh health insurance cover was the best in the world, five social security schemes in Karnataka and the schemes for farmers and small and medium industries in Chhattisgarh are the best in the country.
“Our governments and leaders in these States work with a different vision... Congress wants decentralisation of power while the BJP-RSS aims for centralisation to control the States,” he said, reminding the people of Mizoram that the INDIA block represents 60% of the people in India.
Slew of sops
A “new-look” Congress under State chief Lalsawta is seeking to stage a comeback after a dismal electoral show in 2018, finishing third behind the MNF and the ZPM (whose candidates contested as Independents) in the 40-member Mizoram Assembly.
The day also saw the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee releasing the party manifesto, which promises to establish an efficient, transparent, and corruption-free government apart from strengthening the grassroots democracy by giving more power to the village councils and local bodies in the State.
The party promised a health insurance cover of ₹15 lakh per family for cashless treatment in hospitals for families that do not have a regular government employee, set aside ₹5 crore for assisting patients undergoing treatment for cancer and other serious ailments, provide ₹2,000 per month as pension to the elderly and assistance to widows and the specially abled, and LPG cylinders at ₹750 to certain categories of families, including those headed by women.
