Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the country has become a slave to two or three leaders in the BJP and RSS, and in this scenario, the entire opposition is coming together to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
Rahul claimed that Prime Minister Modi has ignored the interests of Other Backward Classes, a community that Modi himself belongs to.
Addressing a national convention of AICC's OBC department in the national capital, Rahul recalled a conversation he had in the Parliament with a few OBC MPs belonging to the BJP. “I cannot name them because then Modiji will remove them from the party. Making small talk, I asked them what is happening. One of them held my hand and said he and the other BJP MPs made Modiji prime minister. But today, as a Lok Sabha MP, he cannot say a word in front of Narendra Modiji,” Rahul said.
The Congress chief further stated that the OBC MP claimed that he was not the only one who felt this way. “He said, we are all scared. No one listens to us. They only listen to the RSS.”
Rahul accused the RSS and BJP of trying to divide the OBCs. “They want to leave the OBCs in tatters, so that the community is bereft of any strength,” he said.
Rahul said the main difference between the Congress and BJP is that the former is like a bus whose keys are given to the people. The BJP bus, on the other hand, he said, requires the people to sit quietly, and the RSS is in the driving seat.
“Modiji and Bhagwatji are running the bus. The entire benefit will go to the 15-20 richest people and no one is interested in farmers, dalits, adivasis, OBCs or the poor,” Rahul said.
Rahul said the current political atmosphere in the country has brought the entire opposition together, to take on the BJP. “The entire opposition, Congress or Janata Dal, are together. Be it in six or seven months or even one year, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Mohan Bhagwat will see the the might of India. They will realise that only three people cannot run the country,” he said.
Rahul peppered his speech with examples of people from around the globe who made it big despite coming from humble origins because they got opportunities.
He said that the man who began the Coca-Cola company used to sell shikanji (lemonade), McDonalds was started by someone who ran a dhaba (small eatery), and the individuals who started car giants like Ford, Mercedes and Honda were mechanics.
“There is no dearth of skills among OBCs. But their skills get no respect. The doors of banks are shut for them. The doors of politics are closed for them,” Rahul said.