PM Modi said Mahatma Gandhi had understood the "Congress culture very well".
Highlights
- PM wrote a blog on anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's 1930 Dandi March
- Congress Working Committee is meeting in Gujarat today
- "Congress and corruption have become synonyms," PM Modi said
The anti-thesis of Gandhian thought is Congress culture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote today in a blog on the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's 1930 Dandi March, targeting the opposition party and the Gandhi family on a day the Congress Working Committee meets for a strategy session in his home state Gujarat.
PM Modi began with an ode to "the great Sardar Patel", who, he said, had a key role in planning "every minute aspect of the Dandi March, down to the last detail". The Congress accuses the BJP of trying to appropriate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of its most iconic leaders and India's first home minister.
"In many of his works, Gandhi Ji said that he does not believe in inequality and caste divisions. Sadly, the Congress has never hesitated from dividing society. The worst caste riots and anti-Dalit massacres happened under Congress rule," PM Modi wrote in the blog, listing a point-by-point contrast of Gandhi's thoughts and "Congress culture".
Gandhi, said the Prime Minister, had understood the Congress culture very well, "which is why he wanted the Congress disbanded, especially after 1947".
Quoting Gandhi as saying that misgovernance and corruption always go together, PM Modi said while his government had "done everything" to punish the corrupt, "...the nation has seen how Congress and corruption have become synonyms. Name the sector and there will be a Congress scam- from defence, telecom, irrigation, sporting events to agriculture, rural development and more."
He accused Congress leaders of "filling their own bank accounts and lead luxurious lifestyles at the cost of providing basic necessities to the poor".
PM Modi also accused the Congress of going the "Dynasty First" way even though Mahatma Gandhi "despised" dynastic politics.
Referring to the Emergency of 1975 imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, PM Modi wrote: "A firm believer in democracy, Bapu said, 'I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.' Ironically, the Congress gave the nation the Emergency, when our democratic spirit was trampled over. The Congress misused Article 356 several times. If they did not like a leader, that Government was dismissed. Always eager to promote dynastic culture, Congress has no regard for democratic values."
He quoted Gandhi as saying: "I am sorry to have to say that many Congressmen have looked upon this item (Swaraj) as a mere political necessity and not as something indispensable....I would go to the length of giving the whole Congress a decent burial, rather than put up with the corruption that is rampant."
He signed off with the comment that "thankfully", today the country has a government that is "working on Bapu's path and a Jan Shakti that is fulfilling his dream of freeing India from the Congress Culture!"