NEW DELHI/SIMDEGA/LOHARDAGA (JHARKHAND): Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday addressed two rallies in Jharkhand’s Simdega and Lohardaga, claiming that the impending elections are a "battle of ideology". As the BJP charged ahead with bringing in the saffron party's heavyweights in the poll-bound state, the Congress “star campaigner” tugged at local sentiment by accusing the saffron party of trying to snatch "jal, jungle, jameen" from the tribals.
Ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah's rally in Chhatarpur on Saturday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Jamshedpur on Sunday, the Congress leader at Simdega rally said, "Mr Modi calls you ‘Vanvasi’, as the BJP believes that land, forest and water belong to the saffron party, the RSS and capitalists. The BJP believes in grabbing tribal land under its newly coined word development. It wants to snatch jal, jungle, jameen (water, forest, land) from the tribals."
Mr Gandhi said that the Congress calls them “Adivasis”, which means that they are the original owners of land and should have first rights to resources like forests and water. Even the Constitution of India, recognising their first ownership of land and forests, describes them as “Adivasis” only, he said.
Mr Gandhi claimed that the JMM, the Congress and the RJD alliance government will ensure protection of the tribal lands, and in case their land is needed to be acquired, it will be done only after their consent and approval. He also announced that any industry that is set up on their land will appoint people from the Adivasi community, which will help them get employment.
Dubbing the Jharkhand polls a fight of ideology between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-RSS combine, the Congress leader alleged that the RSS-BJP's mission is to "destroy" the Constitution of the country, while the INDIA bloc "wants to protect" it.
The Congress, if voted to power, will ensure caste census and removal of the 50 per cent cap on the reservation, Mr Gandhi claimed.
"We will remove the cap of 50 per cent reservation at any cost. If we are voted to power in Jharkhand, we will raise the reservation of STs to 28 per cent from the present 26 per cent, SCs to 12 per cent from the current 10 per cent and OBCs to 27 per cent from the existing 14 per cent," he added.
Asserting that a caste census is "a must to identify the participation of tribals, Dalits and OBCs" in various institutions and the wealth of the country, the Congress leader said, "When I raised the issue in Parliament, Mr Modi was silent. Later he said that Rahul Gandhi wants to divide the country."
Later in the day, while speaking at another election rally in Lohardaga, Mr Gandhi accused the saffron party of burning Manipur and making attempts to divide people across the country on religious lines.
"The BJP burnt Manipur and attempted to divide people on religious lines. It incited Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs against each other. In recently held Haryana elections, the BJP incited Jats against non-Jats... It is the character of the BJP," he asserted.
The former Congress president also claimed that he undertook a 4,000 km padyatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to "spread the message of love and to open 'nafrat ke bazar me Mohabbat ki dukan' (to open shops of love in the market of hatred)".
"When I raise my voice for tribals and Dalits, the BJP accuses me of dividing India. I am here to unite and strengthen India. If I am wrong in raising the voice for 90 per cent of India's population, which constitutes tribals, Dalits and OBCs, for their participation in governance, I will continue to do so," Mr Gandhi claimed.
At the rally, he alleged that the BJP waived loans of 25 capitalists worth Rs 16-lakh crores but blamed the Congress for easing farmers' debts to the tune of `72,000 crores during the UPA regime.
"Did the BJP government waive any loan of Jharkhand farmers?... No because you are tribals, Dalits and OBCs. The BJP will never waive your debts because it waives debts of capitalists," he alleged.
