Ideology will win us 2019: Rahul

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 18

Equating the 2019 General Election to the epic war of Mahabharata and his party to the Pandavas, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sounded the bugle for next year’s elections, predicting a Congress win over the BJP, which he likened to the Kauravas.

“It is a battle of two ideologies and our ideology is going to win elections,” the Congress president said in his concluding remarks at the three-day AICC plenary that adopted political, economic, foreign policy, agriculture and jobs resolutions, castigating the Narendra Modi-led government for alleged failure on all counts and promised solutions, if voted to power.

Rahul’s address stood out for multiple messaging. Politically, it was by far his most comprehensive attack on the BJP as he accused Modi of colluding with fraudsters like Nirav Modi, called BJP president Amit Shah a “murder accused” and linked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s silence on bank scams to his daughter’s “business interests to crony capitalists”.

Eyes on 2019, he wooed the youth, both inside and outside the party. To Congress leaders today, he said the party must change if it wanted to lead India once again and also confessed that “in the last few years of our UPA government, we didn’t stand up to people’s expectation and they felt let down by us”.

To the youth, he extended an invitation to enter politics.

“I will break two walls — the wall between Congress leaders and workers and the wall between political establishment and Indian youth,” he said.

Using the vacant AICC plenary stage as a symbol of his urge, he said, “You won’t find such empty stages in any party. I have cleared this space for you. Only you can change India.”

Rahul stole the occasion to ask his faction-ridden party to discipline itself “at least until elections”. “You can quarrel after elections,” he joked as his party stands reduced to Punjab, Karnataka, Puducherry and Mizoram. He publicly acknowledged that the Congress still tolerated parachute candidates and denied the ticket to workers who don’t have money.

“No, no, no. You are the workers who carry the Congress in your hearts and you will get the party ticket,” promised the Congress chief, who had said something similar on becoming the Congress vice-president in the Jaipur session of the party. Nevertheless, it was this repeat promise of justice to workers that fetched him the heaviest applause in his 40-minute Hindi-English mixed speech.

For most part, the Gandhi scion launched a caustic attack on the saffron family, accusing the BJP and the RSS of using religion to grab power and of destroying institutions. “Like the Kauravas, the BJP and the RSS are designed to fight for power. Like the Pandavas, the Congress is designed to fight for the truth. The BJP is the voice of one organisation. The Congress is the voice of a nation… People can accept a murder accused as the BJP president, but won’t accept the same in the Congress,” he said, tearing into BJP chief Amit Shah.

In parts, the Congress chief peppered his address with sarcasms like when he said, “Farmers are dying, youth have no jobs, but PM Modi says let’s do yoga… Instead of facing the truth of the crisis caused by GST and demonetisation, the PM diverts attention and never accepts his mistakes.” 

Likens BJP to Kauravas 

• Rahul Gandhi said like the Kauravas, the BJP and the RSS were designed to fight for power; and like the Pandavas, the Congress was designed to fight for the truth

• He accused Modi of colluding with fraudsters like Nirav Modi; called BJP president Amit Shah a “murder accused”; and linked Arun Jaitley’s silence on bank scams to his daughter’s business interests