Mumbai/New Delhi: Led by party president Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders all across India including Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu are observind a day-long fast for communal peace and against the rising violence against Dalits and minorities.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi led the fast at Rajghat with other Delhi State Congress Party leaders today morning whereas the fast observed in various states including different cities and towns were led by state Congress presidents and local leaders.
While talking to media at Rajghat, Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “casteist” and “anti-Dalit”. He added that his party will always stand against the BJP’s “oppressive” ideology. Gandhi also said that the Congress will defeat the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 general election.
“The entire country knows that PM Modi is anti-Dalit, it is not a secret. The BJP follows ideology of oppressing Dalit, Tribal and minorities. We will stand against such ideology and defeat the BJP in 2019 general elections,” Gandhi told reporters.
Punjab Congress condemns “oppressive ideology” of BJP, RSS which did not allow them to respect architect of Constitution BR Ambedkar. “The “oppressive ideology” followed by the BJP and the RSS did not allow them to respect the architect of the Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar”, Pynjab congress said in a message posted on Twitter.
Maharashtra Congress leaders who observed the day-long fast at Azad Maidan said, “Maharashtra Congress says "Peace and harmony has been embodied in the soul of our country and the responsibility to uphold it lies with all of us."
Stating that Congress stands to protect India from divisive forces like a shield, Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill said, “BJP to satisfy its hunger of power wants to swallow the communal harmony of this nation. Congress stands to protect India from these divisive forces like a shield.”
In a message posted on Twitter, West Bengal Congress Chief said, “Congress' dedicated efforts have kept the nation united and we will continue to work for a peaceful India.”
The Congress day-long fast came about a week after 11 Dalit were killed in Bharat Bandh called to protest against dilution of SC/ST Atrocities Act. The Congress party’s 'Sadhbhavna Upvas' (fast for harmony) was however not without a controversy as Delhi Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, listed as accused for their alleged role in the riots, being asked to stay away from the stage where Rahul Gandhi and the other leaders were sitting. Tytler however refused the reports and said he himself avoided sitting on the stage.
Meanwhile, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) mocked the Congress fast accusing the party of playing a "joke" on Dalits with its "farce of a fast" and said its leaders claim of bringing a change but cannot abstain from one meal.
After a picture of Delhi Congress leaders having a meal at a restaurant before they were to sit on a fast at Rajghat "against the alleged caste violence and communalism" went viral, the BJP latched onto it to claim that the opposition party's "double standards" were exposed and that it had ridiculed Mahatma Gandhi's principles of 'satyagrah'.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi for turning up at Rajghat at 1 pm while the fast had started at 10.30 am, saying it shows that the Congress chief cannot wake up in morning as he and his colleagues were used to "politics of luxury".
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