BJP, RSS trying to protect Manuvad: Rahul, Sonia

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday alleged the BJP would try to end reservations, and said the Narendra Modi-led government’s homages to B.R. Ambedkar were “petty politics”. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the BJP and RSS of trying to protect Manu’s ideology, against which Dr Ambedkar fought all his life, in the country. In a rousing speech, the Congress leader claimed that Dr Ambedkar and Congress party fought together to eliminate Manuvad, while the BJP and RSS were trying to protect it.

Sonia and Rahul on Monday visited Nagpur as part of Dr Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations organised by the Congress. The two of them visited ‘Deekshabhoomi’, where Dr Ambedkar and thousands of his followers embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956.

Later, addressing a public rally, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of undoing Dr Ambedkar’s work to bring social equality. “Dr Ambedkar fought against Manuvad. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel also fought against Manuvad. Whether it was the Constitution or the policy of ‘one man one vote’, Dr Ambedkar and Congress fought together to end the oppression of the weaker sections, which was going on in the country for thousands of years. But Manu’s ideology still exists in the country. The Constitution and ‘one man one vote’ was the beginning, but we will have to continue our fight against Manuvad was for a long time,” Rahul said.

The Congress vice-president also said that only two ideologies exist in the country — one of Congress that opposes Manuvad and the other one of BJP/RSS that supports Manuvad. “It is a fact that there is no third ideology in this country,” he said. Rahul also brought up the Rohith Vemula suicide incident in his speech and said that it was the outcome of BJP and RSS’ support to Manuvad.

He said, “Narendra Modi, his ministers and RSS told him that he should dream about making progress and should stand with everybody or else he will be finished. Rohith disagreed with them and insisted that he would stand along with everyone else because he was equal and therefore he was finished. He did not commit suicide, he sacrificed his life for the betterment of the country.”

On the other hand, he claimed, the Congress has always acted against Manuvad by upholding the right to education, right to food, right to information, MGNREGA and Panchayat raj.

“The BJP always attacks me because they know that I am not going to bend before the RSS ideology at any cost. I am not going to bend before Manuvad. Because I know that the ideology destroyed this country,” he said.

In her speech, Mrs Gandhi said that Dr Ambedkar’s life mission was the upliftment of the underprivileged in India and the Congress requested him to carry out the “big task of drafting the Constitution”.

Targeting the RSS and BJP, Mrs Gandhi said that these organisation had always neglected the constitution and its principles. She said, “Don’t go by their words. The BJP will disturb reservations. Babasaheb would have fought these forces.”