BJP sees entire nation through prism of Nagpur: Rahul Gandhi galvanises Congress cadre in Jammu

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of seeing the entire nation through the “prism of Nagpur”, a reference to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which has its headquarters in the city, with an intention to centralise power.
Asking the party rank and file to gear up for the ensuing polls, he said, “It is a fight between the two different ideologies of the Congress and the RSS”.
Addressing workers’ meet here this evening before returning to Delhi, he also attributed the change in the attitude of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the unwavering support of Congress workers.
“Before elections (LS) all of you must have seen the PM delivering a speech with a wide chest, which has now shrunk. I see him clearly in the parliament and I am telling you that you have shaken his confidence and have given him such a psychological tension that his psychology has collapsed,” he said.
“The PM, who had a direct connection with God, is no longer the same PM and Congress workers are responsible for it,” he added.
Alleging that the BJP’s ideology and wrong policies have caused unemployment and inflation across the country, he said, “We are fighting against them wherever they intend to do some mischief. Following our stiff opposition, they had to cancel lateral entry in the bureaucracy. Congress will stand up and oppose all such mischief.”
Rahul candidly admitted that the Congress undoubtedly has different voices and ideologies but called them the essence of democracy.
“Jammu, the land of Mata Vaishno Devi, has its own culture and history. So does Kerala, Karnataka and other states. While we want the culture, history and languages of every region to be protected and people’s voice gets heard, BJP has a different approach and wants to run the nation via Nagpur. So, their ideology is to centralise powers and ours is to decentralise. We want decisions to be taken at panchayats and assembly,” he said.
He urged party leaders KC Venugopal, Tariq Hamid Karra and Ghulam Ahmed Mir to set an example by giving party tickets to grassroot Congress workers.
“Tickets are to be distributed but I want Congress to set an example where a worker gets a party ticket and reaches the assembly,” he said.
He also slammed the BJP for downgrading the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into a UT, adding, “In the independent history of India, representation has always been given its due space and everyone got representation but here (J&K) we have an instance where representation was snatched away from the people.”
It may be stated here that on August 5, 2019, the BJP government had revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Gandhi said the move has not benefited the people of Jammu and Kashmir but to the outsiders, adding, “The people of J&K didn’t get any benefit. They kept suffering all along and the outsiders, whether small or big contractors, or officials from outside at government positions were benefitted.”
“That’s why we wanted statehood to be given before holding the elections. Never mind, they have announced the elections but still we want that statehood be given to you at the earliest,” he asserted.
Trying to strike an emotional chord with the people, he said that his relation with J&K and its people was not a political one but of “love and family”. “All of you know my relationship with you. It’s of love and bond as my family hailed from J&K,” he said.
Post the pre-poll alliance with the National Conference at Srinagar, Rahul also hoped that Congress leaders and cadres were respected by the alliance.
“Raman Bhalla ji called himself a soldier of the party, I would like to tell him that he is the General. And, I want our ‘generals’ and ‘soldiers’ are respected in our alliance,” he said.