Modi govt damaging top institutions: Rahul

Rajmeet Singh & Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 10

A day ahead of the results of Assembly elections of five states are to be announced, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said the results would show the country what the common man wanted. Speaking at the launch of the commemorative edition of “Navjivan” here, Rahul claimed: “We will win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and remove Narendra Modi and the BJP from the Centre by all means.”

“There is a complete disconnect between the Modi-led NDA government and the aspirations and grievances of the common man, be it unemployed youth or debt-ridden farmers. This has resulted in anger among the masses as the BJP leadership was not open to criticism,” he said.

Slamming the Modi government for “damaging” great institutions, including the Supreme Court, for political gains, Rahul said: “The BJP and RSS leaders speak and do whatever they think is right and not what is good for the country and its citizens. They have put the country’s hard-earned independence under threat.”

He called upon the media houses and the journalist fraternity to stand against the “oppressive forces”. He described the media as a tiger. “But once the media houses start getting leverage from the government, they become a paper tiger,” he said.

“Instead of highlighting the grievances of the farmers and unemployed youth, the media is busy covering high-profile marriages in Jodhpur and Udaipur,” Rahul said.

Describing Dr Manmohan Singh as a statesman, Rahul took a dig at Modi’s style of governance.

Dr Manmohan Singh, in his brief address, said Punjab had played a big role in India’s freedom, starting with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He recalled the historical events in which Punjab had played a key role during the freedom movement. Dr Singh requested the management of “Navjivan” to bring out a Punjabi edition of the paper.

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar alleged that the voice of the fourth pillar of democracy had been completely suppressed. Motilal Vora, chairperson of Associated Journals Limited, recalled the historical events related to Mahatma Gandhi’s role and vision in the freedom movement. He said Gandhi had launched “Navjivan” to raise the voice of the people against the British oppression.