Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the BJP and RSS over the concept of One nation, one language, one leader, and one people.
Addressing the public after leading a road show in connection with the launching of his second phase election campaign at Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad of Kerala on April 15 Mr. Gandhi said the main fight during the general election was between the ideology of the RSS and the Congress party.
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Coming down heavily on the concept of BJP, Mr. Gandhi said the Prime Minister and BJP leaders are nowadays loquacious on one nation, one language, one leader, and one people concept and it was a fundamental misunderstanding of the country.
Language is not something that is imposed from the top, language is something that comes from inside the heart of a person, Mr. Gandhi said.
To tell a person from Kerala that your language is inferior to Hindi for example, is an insult to the people of Kerala, he said.
”It is like saying what is coming out of your heart is inferior to what is coming out of the heart of a person in Uttar Pradesh”, he added.
“Malayalam is not just a language it is your link to your civilisation”, Mr. Gandhi said adding that when a child was taught Malayalam he was not only being taught how to speak but the child was being taught the history, and culture of the state as well as affection to respect the culture of Kerala. The child is being taught how to listen, how to behave, how to respect and all things to have come out for the communication of a language, he added.
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“It is like looking at a bouquet and telling the red rose we don’t like the red we want to be white”, Mr. Gandhi said.
India is like a bouquet and every flower has to be respected, he added.
“The idea that India should have only one leader is an insult to every single young Indian person”, Mr. Gandhi said.
“ Why cannot a young boy or girl who is in school not be a leader, why can one of our brothers who is driving an auto rickshaw be a leader, why can one of our police officers not be a leader”? he said.
“Why one leader? There should be millions of leaders in India”, he added.
Mr. Gandhi said that was the main difference between BJP and Congress.
“We want to listen to what is in the heart of our people. We want to love and respect their lives and their language, religion and culture but, they want to impose something from the top, Mr. Gandhi said.
. We could not get freedom from the British to be colonised by the ideology of the RSS, Mr. Gandhi said.
“We want India to be ruled by whole her people”, he added.
Mr. Gandhi also highlighted the unresolved issues of the district such as the night traffic ban on Karnataka’s part of the Kozhikode-Kollegal National Highway 766, escalating man-animal conflict, the alleged apathy of the government in setting up better medical care facilities and the alleged apathy in materialising the Nanjangud-Nilambur line.
The man-animal conflict and night traffic ban were complex issues to be resolved but, the government could easily provide better medical care facilities and improve the miserable condition of the government medical college in the district, Mr.Gandhi said.
Mr. Gandhi promised that all the issues would be resolved if the UDF were in power at the centre and the State after the elections.
Mr. Gandhi also expressed his thanks to all the public of Wayanad irrespective of their political affiliation for the love and affection they gave to him.
Mr. Gandhi said he had invited his mother Sonia Gandhi for a one-week tour to the district.
Mr. Gandhi attended a farmers’ meeting at Pulpally. He will lead road shows at Mananthavady and Kalpetta in the district.