As Rahul Gandhi began his three-day visit to the United States, the Congress leader addressed the Indian American community at the University of Texas in Dallas, where he said that the fear of the BJP has “vanished among the people since the Lok Sabha results”.
During his address, as part of a three-day outreach mission to the US, aimed at strengthening ties between India and the United States, the Leader of Opposition said, “The RSS believes that India is one idea and we believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas. We believe that everybody should be allowed to participate, allowed to dream, and should be given space regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, or history. This is the fight and the fight was crystallized in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India.”
The Congress leader said that in his first speech in the Parliament after the polls, he mentioned Abhayamudra, a symbol of fearlessness present in all Indian religions. He claimed that the BJP could not tolerate or understand this.
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“They don’t understand and we are going to make them understand. The other thing that happened was that the fear of the BJP vanished. We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP or the Prime Minister of India. So these are huge achievements, not of Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party. We are peripheral. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realized democracy, of the people of India who realized that we are not going to accept an attack on our Constitution. We are not going to accept an attack on our religion, on our state,” he said.
Gandhi also talked about the importance of transparency in leadership, using the concept of a ‘Devta’ (deity) to illustrate the idea.
He said, “Devta means a person whose internal feelings are exactly the same as his external expression, meaning he is a completely transparent being. If a person tells me everything he believes or thinks and expresses it openly, that’s the definition of a Devta.”
The LoP pointed to the distinct approach of Indian leaders, who challenge themselves rather than solely focusing on others. He cited historical and mythological figures like Gautam Buddha, Lord Ram, and Mahatma Gandhi as examples of this extreme self-reflection. “Suppressing personal fears and ambitions in favour of understanding others is what makes Indian politics interesting,” he said.
This is Rahul Gandhi’s first trip to America since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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‘Bharat Jodo Yatra – an attack on myself’
Reflecting on his own transformative experience during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Gandhi scion described it as “an attack on myself.” He overcame a knee problem to undertake the months-long march, though he had his fair share of doubts about making it to the finish line.
He said, “…Bharat Jodo Yatra fundamentally changed the way I think about my work. I would say it completely changed how I view politics, how I view our people, how I communicate with them, and how I listen to them. It wasn’t just me, many people were involved in the Yatra. For all of us, the most powerful thing that happened organically, something we didn’t even plan, was the introduction of the idea of love in politics… This is strange because if you look at political discourse in most countries, you’ll never find the word love. It simply doesn’t exist in that context. You’ll find hatred, anger, unfairness, corruption, all these words, but rarely the word ‘love.’ The Bharat Jodo Yatra actually introduced that idea into the Indian political system, and I’ve been amazed at how well that idea has worked…”
“For the first 3-4 days, I thought, ‘What have I done?’” Gandhi quipped, drawing peals of laughter from the audience.
He said 4,000-kilometre journey across India helped him develop a new way of thinking and fostered a better understanding of the people.
“In some ways, Bharat Jodo Yatra was an attack on myself… This generates a completely different way of thinking and creates a unique relationship with people,” Gandhi added.
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Rahul Gandhi in US
During his US visit, from September 8-10, Rahul Gandhi is set to engage in several discussions, including at Georgetown University and with members of the US Congress.
Sam Pitroda, chairperson of the Indian Overseas Congress, stated that Gandhi’s visit is not in an official capacity but presents an opportunity for personal interactions on Capitol Hill.
(With inputs from ANI)
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Publish date : 2024-09-08 17:58:00
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