In a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio show Mann ki Baat, Congress President Rahul Gandhi warned the government on Monday that Indians would speak their “mann ki baat”, or their minds, in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Modi is merely interested in becoming prime minister again even as girls are raped and the rights of Dalits and minorities are under threat, Gandhi said during the Congress’ “Save the Constitution” rally in New Delhi. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of bringing constitutional values under threat.
Saying that Modi could not face him in Parliament, the Congress president also challenged the prime minister to a 15-minute, one-on-one debate.
Ideologues of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are being appointed to key positions, and institutions such as the Supreme Court are being trampled on, Gandhi added. “For the first time, four judges are asking us for justice,” he said, referring to a press conference in January by four Supreme Court judges, in which they raised questions against Chief Justice Dipak Misra’s conduct.
“Narendra Modi is only interested in Narendra Modi,” Gandhi said. “Electoral victory is his only focus. We will never allow the BJP and RSS to destroy our Constitution. The people of India will speak their ‘Mann ki Baat’ in 2019.”
Gandhi also spoke about the safety of women, and said that Modi’s new slogan would be “Beti Bachao, BJP ke logon se bachao [Save our daughters from BJP leaders]”. One of the rape cases that have sparked massive outrage and protests across the country involve a BJP MLA who has been accused of raping a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.
In response, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said it was “becoming increasingly clear that [Congress’] Modi-hatred is fast turning into India-hatred”. He said the “Save the Constitution” campaign was a “farce that seeks to perpetuate the rule of dynasty over the rule of democracy”.
Citing the Congress’ criticism of the Election Commission and the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Misra, Shah said the party wants to “discredit any institution that comes in the way of furthering the rule of the [Nehru-Gandhi] dynasty”.
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