Mhow, Madhya Pradesh:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed on Saturday that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) want to discreetly “finish” the constitution.
He spoke at a rally after his Bharat Jodo reached Yatra Mhow, the hometown of Dr. BR Ambedkar, on Constitution Day.
The congress leader also spoke of the assassinations of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, his grandmother and his father Rajiv Gandhi, saying that he still harbors no hatred against anyone, including his political enemies.
Without mentioning the RSS, Gandhi said, “There is an organization that has not unfolded our beloved Tricolor of the Constitution in its office for 52 years.” “Why? The work done jointly by Ambedkar ji and the Congress, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose ji… (Such) great personalities have given us the Constitution,” he said.
The RSS has been criticized in the past by detractors for not hoisting the tricolor in its offices for several years after independence.
“The constitution gave everyone equal rights. And its symbol was the beloved tricolor,” the congress leader continued.
“The RSS and BJP people cannot finish the constitution openly. They don’t have the courage…if they try, the country will stop them,” said Gandhi.
The Constitution is not just a book, but a “living force, a thought,” he said, claiming that the RSS wanted to erase that thought.
Various institutions such as the Rajya Sabha, judiciary and bureaucracy of the country have emerged from the constitution, the congress leader said.
“The RSS puts its men in the vital organizations, the judiciary, the media, with the aim of pushing the Constitution through the back door,” he claimed.
Before addressing the gathering, Mr. Gandhi offered floral tributes to a statue of Dr. Ambedkar.
“My grandmother took 32 bullets. My grandmother was killed. My father was killed. (But) The day the hatred left me, only love bloomed in my heart. Nothing else,” he said.
He fights against the RSS and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but in his heart he harbors no hatred against the RSS or the Prime Minister, he said.
Not even an ounce of hate. Well, because I don’t harbor hate,’ he said.
“I appeal to BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, RSS people, remove the fear in your heart, the hatred will melt away. Your fear is causing hatred and harming the country. People who have love, are never afraid. The people who are afraid cannot love,” he added.
This was also the message of his foot march across the country, Mr Gandhi said.
Since 2015, November 26 is celebrated as Constitution Day to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. Previously, the day was celebrated as Day of the Law.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi entered MP from Maharashtra via Burhanpur on 23 November and would cover a distance of 380 kilometers before entering Rajasthan on 4 December.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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