4 min readThiruvananthapuramAug 13, 2023 08:03 AM IST
First published on: Aug 12, 2023 at 07:22 PM IST
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi again mounted a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Manipur issue Saturday, alleging that the PM was not a nationalist.
A day after the conclusion of the stormy monsoon session of Parliament, Rahul hit the ground, reaching Wayanad on his first visit to his constituency after being reinstated as the MP on August 7 in the wake of the Supreme Court’s August 4 order staying his conviction in a defamation case.
Addressing a gathering at a rousing reception in Wayanad’s Kalpetta, Rahul charged, “I said in Parliament a few days back that BJP has killed the idea of India in Manipur. What has happened in Manipur is murder of Bharat Mata. You have destroyed thousands of families, allowed rapes of women.”
He alleged: “And as the PM of India, you are laughing. You spent only two minutes talking about the murder of Bharat Mata. How dare you do this? How can you destroy the idea of India? What have you been doing for the last four months? Why were you not there? Why did you not try to stop violence? You are not a nationalist. Anyone who murders the idea of India cannot be a nationalist.’’
Rahul said PM Modi spoke for more than two hours while replying to the no-trust motion in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. “PM laughed, joked and smiled. His Cabinet members laughed and smiled. They had a lot of fun. The Prime Minister spoke for two hours and thirteen minutes about everything, about the Congress, me, about INDIA alliance, but he spoke for only two minutes about Manipur.”
The Congress leader said the idea of India represents the idea of peace among the people, adding if there is violence, murder, rape and hatred, then that is not India. “If in a state people kill each other, murder each other or rape each other, that is not India. India is love and affection between its people. India is bringing together people,’’ he said.
Referring to his visit to Wayanad months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul said, “I have come back to my family. Suppose, if somebody tries to separate two brothers of a family… or a father and a daughter… their relationship and love become stronger. So the BJP and RSS do not understand what the family is. They don’t understand that the more they try to separate me from you, the stronger the relationship would be. The disqualification has made my relationship with Wayanad stronger.”
Rahul also claimed, “You can disqualify me 50 or 100 times, but this relationship (with Wayanad) would only become stronger. BJP aims at destroying families. They want to divide the idea of India. In Manipur, they destroyed families… But we would bring love back to Manipur. You took two months to destroy Manipur, but it may take five years to bring love back to Manipur. We will do this. This is the fight between Congress and BJP.”
Recalling his visit to Manipur, Rahul gave an account of his meetings with violence-affected women victims at the relief camps in the strife-torn state. “When we went to the Meitei area, we were told that if any of the security personnel was from the Kuki community, they would kill him. When we went to the Kuki region, they told us that if anyone was from the Meitei community, they would shoot at him. Imagine the situation, there is a complete divide between people.”
All the senior leaders of the Congress as well as its ally Indian Union Muslim League were present at the reception organised for Rahul by the Wayanad District Congress Committee.
After the event, Rahul handed over keys of nine houses, which were constructed under a scheme “Kaithangu”, to the beneficiaries.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaks during a public meeting at Kalpetta, in Wayanad district, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. (PTI Photo) 
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