April 10, 2025
AHMEDABAD – Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of attacking the country’s institutional framework, and said only the Congress party can defeat them because its ideology is based on the Constitution.
Addressing the AICC session here in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, he asserted that the BJP and the RSS are attacking the Constitution everyday and the fight is to save it by defeating them.
Attacking the BJP and RSS, the Leader of Opposition while holding aloft a copy of the Constitution said, “The fight is about the Constitution. The RSS and the BJP are attacking the Constitution everyday. This is a battle of ideology and only the Congress party can defeat the BJP and RSS.”
Stating that the Constitution is an ideological document which reflects the ideology of the Congress party, he said, “It doesn’t reflect the ideology of Sangh parivar or the RSS and that is why they are intent on destroying this Constitution and capturing all institutions that emerged from it.”
“The BJP and the RSS are attacking our institutional framework. They think that just because they are in power, they have a huge amount of financial capacity that nobody is going to resist. They are absolutely wrong. The Congress party and its workers, and a large part of the mass of India’s people are going to fight for this Constitution and are going to defeat the BJP and the RSS”, Gandhi said.
Referring to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which was recently passed by the Parliament, he said , ” A few days ago, the BJP and RSS attacked the freedom of religion. The Waqf Bill and the article that appeared in the RSS magazine, the Organiser , where they said they are now going to attack the land of our Christian brothers and sisters are both attacks on the Constitution of India. They must be seen at that line.”
“We want that every community, religion and language should get respect and place in this country. This country should belong to all,” Gandhi said.
He urged all the Congress members to protect the Constitution, rights of every single Indian, all communities and all languages.
Reiterating his demand for caste census, Gandhi said, “I had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament that there should be a caste census in the country. Everyone should know how many Dalits, backward, tribals, minorities and poor general category people are there in the country. Apart from this, we should also find out who has much participation in the country.”
He said but the BJP and RSS had clearly stated that they will not conduct caste census.
Gandhi also highlighted the steps taken by the Congress government in Telangana, which has revealed about the communities that are participating in different activities in the state.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Leader of Opposition while referring to tariffs imposed by the US on India said, “Earlier when Narendra Modi went to America, he hugged US President Donald Trump, but this time that picture disappeared. Trump said this time we will not hug, now we will directly impose tariffs, but not even a word came out of Narendra Modi’s mouth.”
He said because of these tariffs, there is going to be an economic storm in the country and to avoid people’s attention from getting diverted towards that, the Parliament was run till midnight by the ruling dispensation.
On the Prime Minister’s recent meeting with Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, Gandhi said, “Bangladesh made contradictory statements about India. But, Narendra Modi was seen sitting peacefully with their leader and did not utter a word about this.”
“Where did Narendra Modi’s ’56 inch’ chest go?,” he questioned.