Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Sonia Gandhi urges people to fight against fear and anarchy
She was addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee as part of Gandhi Chetna rally via a video-conference to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday exhorted the people of poll-bound Bihar to be extra cautious against concerted efforts to mislead them by using fear, emotions and rumour-mongering to create an atmosphere of distrust.
She urged them to stand united to fight the prevailing rule of anarchy, atrocity and misconduct in the country.
She was addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) as part of Gandhi Chetna rally via a video-conference to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
She also honoured the families of 151 freedom fighters of Champaran Satyagrah on the occasion and unveiled a statue of the Father of the Nation at the Congress’s party office in East Champaran district.
She said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 proved to be a game-changer for the poor and the downtrodden during the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
The viral outbreak had led to the biggest-ever reverse migration of labourers to their native places following the 68-day nationwide lockdown restrictions that were enforced from March 25 to contain the spread of the contagion.
“Earlier, the MGNREGA, 2005 was opposed by the opposition. But the scheme has come to the rescue of the migrant labourers and the poor,” she added.
She paid rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri, whose birth anniversary is also observed on Friday. The Congress chief said that the Gandhian thoughts were the soul of the party.
“He (Gandhi) embarked on the Champaran Satyagrah to liberate helpless farmers, labourers and the downtrodden from atrocities of the then British colonial rule. It was Champaran that gave Gandhi the title of Mahatma,” she added.
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In an apparent attack on the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, the Congress leader drew parallel with the colonial British rule and said a similar kind of situation was prevailing in the country. She alleged that the interests of millions of farmers, labourers and poor were being sacrificed for the benefits of a few people.
“Crores of people are being rendered jobless, small and cottage industries being destroyed, while government institutions that gave jobs are being sold,” she said.
She said that her party had always promptly acted against those, who were alleged to have engaged in any kind of misconduct.
“But this government is doing just the opposite. Even the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, which was enacted to fight corruption in the government, has been weakened in such a way that none can get a reply to their queries,” she added.
Shaktisinh Gohil, All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Bihar in-charge, said the public should vote judiciously in the upcoming Bihar polls. He said the fight is between two schools of thoughts: live and let live vs. live and let them die.
He cited the alleged gang-rape and death of a Dalit teenager (19) by four upper caste men in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district earlier this week and alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies were trying muzzle the voice of the oppressed community.
Gohil claimed that the Congress always gave respect to the aspirations of the Dalit community. He reminded the public that Congress had got Bhim Rao Ambedkar elected to the Lok Sabha by vacating a seat, which was won by the party.
“Shatriji’s slogan Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan has been glossed over by the NDA government. PM Modi did not have the courage to take the name of China, whose People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had killed 20 of our brave soldiers from the Bihar regiment in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan valley in May,” he alleged.
Udit Raj, a former BJP Member of Parliament (MP) and a Dalit leader, rued that the Congress could not claim the credit for safeguarding the rights and interests of the downtrodden in the society.
“It was during the Congress regime that the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) got reservation, land, jobs and, most importantly, dignity. What new thing did other parties give it to them (SCs and STs)? Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was attacked by the UP Police on Thursday for raising his voice against the injustice meted out to the slain Dalit teenager at Hathras,” he added.
Madan Mohan Jha, chief, BPCC; Sadanand Singh, Congress legislature party leader; and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, chief, BPCC campaign committee were among the others who attended the programme in Patna on Friday.
