'Did not attain freedom to be colonised by RSS ideology,' Rahul says in Wayanad

Sulthan Bathery (Wayanad District, Kerala): Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the resistance against discordant ideologies was central to his party's fight against the BJP and the RSS.

"We did not gain freedom from the British to be colonised by the ideology of the RSS. We want India to be ruled by all her people," he said.

In his first public address seeking a second term from the constituency, Gandhi took on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the narrative of "one nation, one people, one language, and one leader".

"This comes with an inherent lack of understanding of India. To tell a person from Kerala that his or her language is inferior to Hindi, for example, is an insult to the people of Kerala," he said.

He was speaking at the end of an hour-long roadshow that saw hundreds of partymen and supporters line the streets of Sultan Bathery, the largest town in this agrarian district.

Calling the idea that India should have only one leader an insult to Indians, the Congress leader said the country should have "millions of leaders".

"While the Congress aims to listen to the people and respect their diverse beliefs, languages, and cultures, the BJP is looking to impose its ideology from the top," he charged.

Local concerns

The incumbent MP targeted the BJP-led Central and the CPM-led Kerala governments as equally apathetic to issues in the constituency.

He said he had written "multiple times" to the two governments seeking a resolution to the recurring man-animal conflicts in the district and the "distress" caused by the ban on night traffic in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, along the Karnataka-Kerala border.

"Since the Congress is not in power at the Centre or in the state, Wayanad continues to be neglected. The pending Nilambur-Nanjangud railway line and repeated calls for a medical college hospital have also been ignored," he said.

Gandhi raised these issues again during public connect programmes during the day in Pulpally and Mananthavady. In Pulpally, he criticised the Centre for its handling of farmers' grievances and noted that the Congress manifesto promised a guaranteed legal minimum support price for agriculture products.

Gandhi, along with senior Congress leaders including the Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, visited the Bishop's House at the Diocese of Mananthavady.

The MP won the 2019 election by a margin of over 4.31 lakh votes. CPI leader Annie Raja and BJP state president K Surendran are the other key candidates in the April 26 election.