‘I am a Hindu, not Hindutvawadi’: At Jaipur rally, Rahul Gandhi slams BJP

🔴 "The difference between Hindu and Hindutvawadi is that Hindu searches for truth, it is called satyagraha but Hindutvawadi searches for power (satta) and it is called as Sattagraha," Rahul Gandhi said.

Written by Deep Mukherjee
Jaipur | Updated: December 13, 2021 10:35 AM IST

4 min read

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi being received by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the airport in Jaipur, Sunday, Dec 12, 2021. (PTI Photo)

The Congress Sunday held a rally in Jaipur to protest inflation and accused the Centre of working for the interest of “capitalists” and “industrialists”, terming it a “‘Hindutvawadi government” working against the people.

Congress leaders, in the presence of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, termed the ‘mahangai hatao (reduce price hike) rally’ as the start of the “reverse countdown of the BJP government”.

The rally was initially set to be held in Delhi, but the venue was later moved to Jaipur after the Congress claimed that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had cancelled permission to hold the event.

Addressing the gathering, Rahul said that at present, there is a clash between two words — ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindutvawadi’.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot welcomed the Gandhis to Jaipur (Twitter/INC)

“Desh ki rajneeti mein aaj do shabdon ki takkar hai, do alag shabdon ki… Ek shabd ‘Hindu’, doosra shabd ‘Hindutvawadi’. Ye ek cheez nahin hai, ye do alag shabd hai aur inka matlab bilkul alag hai. Main Hindu hun, magar Hindutvawadi nahin hun. (In the country’s politics, there is a clash between two words… One word is ‘Hindu’, the other word is ‘Hindutvawadi’. These two words so not mean one thing, these are two different words and their meanings are totally different. I am a Hindu but not a Hindutvawadi.),” Rahul said.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and others during the Mehngai Hatao Maha Rally.

The Congress leader added that Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a Hindutvawadi. “Mahatma Gandhi — Hindu. Godse —Hindutvawadi. What is the difference? Whatever happens, Hindu seeks the truth. Even if he dies, gets crushed, Hindu searches truth. His way is Satyagraha. He spends all his life searching for truth. Mahatma Gandhi wrote his autobiography, My Experiments With Truth, which means, he spent his entire life trying to understand and search for truth. And at the end, a Hindutvawadi fired three bullets at his chest,” Rahul said.

Priyanka Gandhi addressing the gathering.

“Hindutvawadi spends his entire life in search of power. He has nothing to do with truth. He only wants power and for it he will do anything… Can kill someone, say anything, can burn, cut, beat, he wants power. His way is not satyagraha but sattagraha.”

He added, “This country is a country of Hindus, not of Hindutvawadi. And if there is inflation, pain, sorrow in this country, this is the work of Hindutvadis. Since 2014, the Hindutvawadis are ruling, not Hindus.”

Rahul said previous Congress-led governments had waived loans of farmers because they are the backbone of the country but Prime Minister Narendra Modi “stabbed them in the back”. “Narendra Modi ji has stabbed the soul of farmers, not from the front but from the back. Why? Because he is a Hindutvawadi,” he claimed.

Rahul also claimed that China has occupied Indian land in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh but Modi has not commented on the same.

Earlier addressing the rally, Gandhi Vadra said the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh spends thousands of crores of rupees on advertisement but is unable to give fertilizers to farmers. She said that she knows of people who died standing in lines for fertilizers, and claimed that the Prime Minister was busy “touring the world” but couldn’t visit the protesting farmers.

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