Section of Congress leaders conniving with BJP: Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat
Section of Congress leaders conniving with BJP: Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat
M.U.H
08/03/202520
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that the Congress has been unable to “fulfil the expectations of people of Gujarat” in the past three decades due to a section of Congress leaders “conniving with the BJP from within”.
Emphasising that “sieving out” the detractors would enable people in the state to trust the party, Gandhi said that he had decided to “build a relationship” with the people of Gujarat and “manifest the hidden confidence” of the Congress.
Gandhi made these remarks while addressing Congress workers in Ahmedabad on his two-day visit and said that the party, in entirety, had “failed to live up to the expectations” of the people of Gujarat, who are “seeking a new vision”.
Stating that the party needed to “show the door” to those who worked for the BJP from within, Gandhi said, “Why has the Congress not been able to fulfil the expectations of the people of Gujarat for the last 20-30 years? The answer is that the leadership of Gujarat, the workers, the district and block presidents of the party have two kinds of leaders – one, who stand with the public, fight for them and respect them because they have the Congress in their heart; the other, who sits aloof, does not respect people and is in connivance with the BJP.”
Saying that the people, traders, SMEs, farmers, labourers and students in Gujarat want an opposition, Gandhi said, “They do not want a B-Team (of the BJP)…It is my responsibility to sieve these two groups. There is no dearth of leaders in the Congress – we have district and block level leaders who are Babbar Shers (Asiatic Lions) but they have a chain from the back (in control of the BJP).”
Gandhi added that it was time to show the detractors the door. He said, “Even if we have to remove 20-30 people, we will do it. If you are working for the BJP from within Congress, you will be sent out so that you can work for them openly. You will realise that you have no value there (in the BJP). Forget about winning and losing (elections), senior leaders should have the blood of the Congress running through their veins. The control of the organisation should be with such leaders. The moment we do this, the people of Gujarat will want to storm into the Congress party and we will have to open our doors to them. We do not have to talk about the elections – this is not a two-three year project but a 50-year project.”
Highlighting that the Congress party was able to increase its vote percentage by 22 percent in Telangana, Gandhi claimed that 40 per cent of Gujarat’s votes was with the Congress. “It is our need to join with the people. We showed through the Bharat Jodo Yatra that Congress can easily connect with the people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. We can change the politics of the country. I am speaking for myself, too; Congress leaders will have to go into the midst of people and to their homes. To hear their voices and ask them what they want for their future, health, education and business. We have come to listen and not deliver speeches… I am saying this from the stage, I am not scared or embarrassed. But I want to say this in front of you… whether it is our workers, or Rahul Gandhi, or the general secretary or the PCC president, we are not able to show Gujarat a way.”
“We can do this easily…,” he said, adding, “You must remember that the Opposition has 40 per cent vote in Gujarat. It is not a small opposition. In any part of Gujarat, we would have two people, of which, one will support the BJP and the other will support the Congress. But in our mind, we think that Congress has no strength. If our vote increases by 5 per cent, that will be enough. In Telangana, we increased our vote percentage by 22 per cent, we need only 5 per cent here. But we will not be able to get this 5 per cent without sieving through these two groups.”
Gandhi said that the Congress’s ideology originated from Gujarat due to leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, who “showed the way” during India’s freedom struggle. Gandhi said, “Without Gujarat, there would be no Congress ideology. Gujarat has taught us (Congress). It is Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel who have taught us. Today, Gujarat is finding itself stuck. The backbone of Gujarat is her traders, SMEs. They are finished; look at the diamond industry, the textile industry and ceramic industry…farmers of Gujarat. They are screaming out to say they want a new vision as the vision that has been going on since the last 25 years has failed.”
Gandhi added that he would “fulfil the responsibility” of bringing out the confidence of the Congress leaders in Gujarat that is hidden away. “We have not lost the confidence. It is within us but we have to bring it out. I will manifest it for you,” he said.
