BJP 'set Manipur on fire', alleges Rahul Gandhi

Tirunelveli: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the BJP threatened and frightened the minorities in the country and "set" the state of Manipur "on fire," as he assured that his party will not allow the spread of hatred.

While crediting the AIADMK for its contribution to Tamil Nadu, he, however, claimed that it was no longer that kind of a party now and had become a "hollow shell." Addressing an election rally here, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that he went on the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the idea being put forward by him and his party was a united and harmonious India.

"We say that each state should run itself and they say all states should be subservient to one political organisation called RSS. Now, in this election they are trying to infiltrate Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK has had a great historical tradition. Like the Congress and the DMK, the AIADMK also had shown the way forward. It had in the past great leaders who protected the idea of Tamil Nadu. But the AIADMK of today is no longer that old party. Today it is a hollow shell as leaders of AIADMK are compromised," he said.

Their corruption has "trapped them" and they can do nothing against the wishes of the BJP. So, they have been used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Amit Shah to take over the state of Tamil Nadu, he charged.

"They cannot directly say what they want to do. So they have made AIADMK a partner to attack you your language, culture, tradition and history," Gandhi alleged.

Further, he said that the main, most important aspect of this election was all about stopping the RSS-BJP from entering Tamil Nadu.

He said his Bharat Jodo Yatra was for the idea of a united harmonious India. "An India where everybody feels loved and respected."

"The BJP spreads hatred anger and violence across the country. They concentrate power in the hands of a few big business people. They build an unequal India. They threaten and frighten our brothers and sisters from the minorities. Our Christian, Muslim, Sikh brothers and sisters are made to feel scared all the time. The state of Manipur was set on fire by the BJP," he charged.

"We believe in a harmonious, fair and equal country. We are not going to allow them to spread hatred and anger throughout India," Rahul said.

"We are protecting Tamil language culture tradition history. On the other side there is BJP-AIADMK which is trying to take away Tamil Nadu's strength." Referring to the Women's Bill passed in 2023, he said that bill did not seek to redraw the electoral map of India.

While passing that bill, BJP said it will be implemented in 10 years and the Congress had then insisted that it should be implemented immediately, he recalled.

"We repeat that same statement again, if the BJP wants Women's bill, implement the 2023 Women's bill right now and the entire opposition will support you 100 per cent." Tamil Nadu has a history of following social justice and it has built a development model based on social justice which truly helps people of all communities, he said.

All parties in the state worked on this development model and iconic Congress leader K Kamaraj laid the found of a strong public education system, Rahul said.

"He came up with idea of meals for children (to encourage school enrollment). This is another thing that irritates the BJP. They do not want the social justice ideas to spread to the rest of the country. The DMK has also played a role in promoting social justice." "Chief Minister MK Stalin ensured Rs 1,000 to the women of Tamil Nadu; pioneered a scheme that gave students breakfast across the state. Our alliance is going to deepen development and social justice. We are going to increase the amount of money to Rs 2,000 per month for women (the monthly entitlement). Landless farmers will get Rs 6,000 a year and Rs 2,000 will be the assistance for senior citizens and the differently-abled people. All government job vacancies will be filled within 300 days," he assured.