Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack against the BJP government on a host of issues ranging from jobs, Women's Reservation Bill and foreign policy. Gandhi made these comments in London while addressing two different meetings at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) and London School of Economics.
Gandhi also said that the General Election in 2019 is going to be fought between the BJP and the Opposition alliance as for the first time there has been a "systematic attack" on Indian institutions.
Rahul also said that the Congress was not involved in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed.
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Here's what Gandhi said in London:
1. Doklam standoff was an event for Modi: Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he views the Doklam issue as an event and added that Chinese presence is still there. "I don't have the details of Doklam, so I can't answer how I would've handled it differently. What I can tell you is that Doklam is not an unrelated episode, it's not a one-off, it is not a border issue, it is a strategic issue."
"It is a part of a sequence of events and Doklam was a crisis that happened because the government is episodic," he added.
2. India facing job crisis: Gandhi on Friday said that India was facing a "full-blown crisis" of unemployment and the Government was refusing to admit it. "The jobs crisis can be addressed, but India has to first accept that there is a problem," said Gandhi.
Comparing China with India, he said: Where China creates 50,000 jobs a day, only 450 jobs are created in a day in India. This is a catastrophe. Gandhi said that India has a bigger role to play for the world as the nation is more refined now.
3. 2019 election to be fought between BJP and Opposition alliance: In an interaction with the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (UK) at the London School of Economics, Gandhi said that the first priority of the Congress is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and stop the institutions in India from being encroached upon.
"Next election is pretty straightforward. On one side there is BJP and on the other side, there is every opposition party. The reason is, for the first time, Indian institutions are under attack," he said.
ALSO READ: BJP govt changed Rafale deal to favour industrialist: Rahul Gandhi in UK
"What we're defending is the onslaught on the Indian Constitution. I and the entire opposition have agreed, that our first priority is to stop the poison being spread," Gandhi said.
4. Congress not involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots: To a question being asked by the CNN-News18 at an event in the UK Parliament about the 1984 riots, Gandhi said: "I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly, there was tragedy."
"So, I am against any sort of violence against anybody on this planet. I get disturbed when I see anybody being hurt. So, I condemn that 100 per cent and I am 100 per cent for punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody. That's crystal clear," said Gandhi.
5. Will co-operate with BJP if they pass Women's Reservation Bill: Rahul Gandhi said that his party would happily co-operate with the BJP if they wish to pass the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.
The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Indian Parliament's upper house Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, but has been stalled in the Lok Sabha.
"I have sent a message to the Prime Minister, the day he wishes to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, entire Congress party is happy to co-operate with BJP," Gandhi said.
6. Sushma has no job, spends time on people's visas: Rahul Gandhi while speaking at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) said that the there is a monopoly of PMO on the External Affairs Ministry and that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has no job except spending a lot of time working on people's visas.
Sushma Swaraj really has nothing to do, though she is quite a capable lady, the Congress leader said. "If you actually give her the power to do something, she could probably break that monopoly (in the ministry)."
7. Govt lacks coherent strategy for Pakistan: Gandhi on Friday said that the Narendra Modi government lacks a "coherent strategy" towards Pakistan and attacked Modi for his foreign policy based on "hugs".
Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "I've also been trapped in the hug politics but I don't think you can run foreign policy based on hugs. It doesn't work. We have tremendous structures in our country, institutional structures that understand these things, one has to use those structures to develop strategy."
ALSO READ: Eyeing 2019 election, Rahul Gandhi sets focus on small businesses
The Congress leader said some of the institutions in Pakistan are hostile towards India and some are attacking India. "So we don't want to talk to them."
8. RSS similar to Muslim brotherhood: Rahul Gandhi compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist organization, and said the RSS wanted to "capture" every institution of the country. The RSS was trying to change the very nature of India, he alleged.
"What we are dealing with is a completely new idea. It is similar to the idea that exists in the Arab world in the form of Muslim Brotherhood. And the idea is that an ideology should run through every institution, one idea should crush all other ideas."
9. BJP govt changed Rafale deal to favour industrialist: Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP government changed the multi-billion dollar Rafale contract to benefit an industrialist who was in debt. Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government BJP government for allegedly inking the deal at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated to benefit "one businessman".
"Our government signed a contract with Dassault and gave the contract to HAL. The price we were paying was approximately 5.2 billion (Rs 520 crore).
"Then something happened, Prime Minister Modi went to France, changed the contract from 126 planes to 36 planes, changed the pricing structure from 5.2 billion to 16 billion and magically, Mr Anil Ambani was given the contract," Gandhi said.
Gandhi also said that the General Election in 2019 is going to be fought between the BJP and the Opposition alliance as for the first time there has been a "systematic attack" on Indian institutions.
Rahul also said that the Congress was not involved in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
Here's what Gandhi said in London:
1. Doklam standoff was an event for Modi: Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he views the Doklam issue as an event and added that Chinese presence is still there. "I don't have the details of Doklam, so I can't answer how I would've handled it differently. What I can tell you is that Doklam is not an unrelated episode, it's not a one-off, it is not a border issue, it is a strategic issue."
"It is a part of a sequence of events and Doklam was a crisis that happened because the government is episodic," he added.
2. India facing job crisis: Gandhi on Friday said that India was facing a "full-blown crisis" of unemployment and the Government was refusing to admit it. "The jobs crisis can be addressed, but India has to first accept that there is a problem," said Gandhi.
Comparing China with India, he said: Where China creates 50,000 jobs a day, only 450 jobs are created in a day in India. This is a catastrophe. Gandhi said that India has a bigger role to play for the world as the nation is more refined now.
3. 2019 election to be fought between BJP and Opposition alliance: In an interaction with the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (UK) at the London School of Economics, Gandhi said that the first priority of the Congress is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and stop the institutions in India from being encroached upon.
"Next election is pretty straightforward. On one side there is BJP and on the other side, there is every opposition party. The reason is, for the first time, Indian institutions are under attack," he said.
ALSO READ: BJP govt changed Rafale deal to favour industrialist: Rahul Gandhi in UK
"What we're defending is the onslaught on the Indian Constitution. I and the entire opposition have agreed, that our first priority is to stop the poison being spread," Gandhi said.
4. Congress not involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots: To a question being asked by the CNN-News18 at an event in the UK Parliament about the 1984 riots, Gandhi said: "I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly, there was tragedy."
"So, I am against any sort of violence against anybody on this planet. I get disturbed when I see anybody being hurt. So, I condemn that 100 per cent and I am 100 per cent for punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody. That's crystal clear," said Gandhi.
5. Will co-operate with BJP if they pass Women's Reservation Bill: Rahul Gandhi said that his party would happily co-operate with the BJP if they wish to pass the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.
The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Indian Parliament's upper house Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, but has been stalled in the Lok Sabha.
"I have sent a message to the Prime Minister, the day he wishes to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, entire Congress party is happy to co-operate with BJP," Gandhi said.
6. Sushma has no job, spends time on people's visas: Rahul Gandhi while speaking at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) said that the there is a monopoly of PMO on the External Affairs Ministry and that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has no job except spending a lot of time working on people's visas.
Sushma Swaraj really has nothing to do, though she is quite a capable lady, the Congress leader said. "If you actually give her the power to do something, she could probably break that monopoly (in the ministry)."
7. Govt lacks coherent strategy for Pakistan: Gandhi on Friday said that the Narendra Modi government lacks a "coherent strategy" towards Pakistan and attacked Modi for his foreign policy based on "hugs".
Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "I've also been trapped in the hug politics but I don't think you can run foreign policy based on hugs. It doesn't work. We have tremendous structures in our country, institutional structures that understand these things, one has to use those structures to develop strategy."
ALSO READ: Eyeing 2019 election, Rahul Gandhi sets focus on small businesses
The Congress leader said some of the institutions in Pakistan are hostile towards India and some are attacking India. "So we don't want to talk to them."
8. RSS similar to Muslim brotherhood: Rahul Gandhi compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist organization, and said the RSS wanted to "capture" every institution of the country. The RSS was trying to change the very nature of India, he alleged.
"What we are dealing with is a completely new idea. It is similar to the idea that exists in the Arab world in the form of Muslim Brotherhood. And the idea is that an ideology should run through every institution, one idea should crush all other ideas."
9. BJP govt changed Rafale deal to favour industrialist: Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP government changed the multi-billion dollar Rafale contract to benefit an industrialist who was in debt. Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government BJP government for allegedly inking the deal at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated to benefit "one businessman".
"Our government signed a contract with Dassault and gave the contract to HAL. The price we were paying was approximately 5.2 billion (Rs 520 crore).
"Then something happened, Prime Minister Modi went to France, changed the contract from 126 planes to 36 planes, changed the pricing structure from 5.2 billion to 16 billion and magically, Mr Anil Ambani was given the contract," Gandhi said.
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