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Informist, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024

NEW DELHI – Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are insulting the tribals by calling them Vanvasi instead of Adivasi. Addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar, Gandhi said there is a huge difference between the two.

"You have been given a name in the constitution – Adivasi. But BJP and RSS call you Vanvasi. The two terms have huge differences. Adivasi means the first citizens of the country. It means that you have the first right to water, forest and land. While Vanvasi means that you stay in the forest, but you have no right to the forest, land and water," Gandhi said.

The senior Congress leader also said the fight between the ruling BJP and the opposition is a battle of ideologies. The Congress party and opposition bloc want the country to be governed by the Constitution, Gandhi said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that the Constitution I show in public meetings is blank. The Constitution may be blank for him because he has never read it in his life. They also question the colour of the Constitution. I want to tell them that the colour of the Constitution doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters for us is what has been written in it, and we can sacrifice our lives for this Constitution," Gandhi said. He said the entire fight is to save the Constitution.

Gandhi also alleged that the ruling Mahayuti snatched 500,000 jobs from the people as multiple projects were shifted from the state to Gujarat.

Advocating for a caste census, Gandhi said it would ascertain the number of tribals, Dalits and backward classes in Maharashtra. "We want tribals, Dalits and backward classes to get representation in decision-making," he said.

Voting in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on Nov. 20 and the counting of votes will take place on Nov. 23. In the 2019 elections, the BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena contested elections in alliance and secured a majority by winning 161 seats – BJP 105 and Shiv Sena 56. The undivided Nationalist Congress Party had won 54 seats and the Congress party 44 seats. The BJP-led Mahayuti has factions of Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has Congress and factions of Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party. End

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Saji George Titus

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