Don't have hatred towards anybody: Rahul on Rajiv Gandhi case convicts

Chennai: Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Wednesday he harboured no hatred towards the convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and asserted that it was for the courts to decide on their release.

The Congress chief, who is touring Tamil Nadu for a day to launch the United Progressive Alliance's campaign, said the assassination of his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 had two aspects. "While one was personal, which we have dealt with, the other was the legal issue, which has to take its course. Whatever course the legal issue takes, we are happy with it," Rahul Gandhi said. "We are quite forgiving people, we do not have animosity or hatred towards anybody and it is for the courts to decide (on their release)," he told reporters. "You need a conversation to start with stakeholders, that is the type of things we excelled at," the Congress president added. Exuding confidence that a Congress-led Opposition would emerge victorious in the Lok Sabha election, Rahul Gandhi promised initiatives such as reforms in the goods and services tax, encompassing its simplest form and a "phenomenal and revolutionary idea" of a minimum income guarantee scheme.

On the Rafale deal, he said while there was no question about its capability, the issue was about corruption and the need was for a probe into it. The Congress chief did not answer if his party would scrap the deal if voted to power. "The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) is a 'corrupt' man, bypassed negotiations, ran parallel negotiations on the Rafale deal." Hitting out at Modi, Rahul Gandhi asked as to why the prime minister was not addressing the media and interacting with students like he did. "Why are you (Modi) hiding?" he asked, adding that the prime minister should have the guts to face the media. Lashing out at the BJP, he said the saffron party's idea was to capture every institution of the country and run it from Nagpur, the RSS headquarters.