‘If you sat Modi ji next to God…’: Rahul Gandhi enthralls audience during US visit – Top Quotes

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the Modi government deployed all its might to derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra that he undertook a few months ago but failed. Addressing a group of people from the Indian diaspora in Santa Clara, California, Rahul touched upon several issues ranging from the Bharat Jodo Yatra to his idea for uprooting the social and economic divide in the country.   

In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the inauguration of the new Parliament building, Rahul said that the BJP has had to resort to distractions such as the Sengol and “lying down” before it because it cannot talk on real issues like unemployment, price rise and rising hatred in the country.

Also Read: BJP ‘threatening’ people and ‘misusing’ government agencies: Rahul Gandhi

Govt used all their might to stop Bharat Jodo Yatra

“We were finding that the normal tools that we used to use for politics — conversations like this, public meetings — were simply not working anymore. All the instruments that we needed to do politics in India were controlled by the BJP and the RSS. You know people are threatened, agencies are used.. in some way we were finding it difficult to act politically. And that’s why we decided to walk from the southern-most tip of India to Srinagar.

“The government tried everything.. Jo bhi unme taaqat thi, unhone yatra ko rokne mein laga di (They used all the power at their disposal to stop the Yatra). But nothing worked. The effect of the Yatra only kept growing.

 ‘If you sat Modi ji next to God…’: Rahul’s swipe at PM Modi

The assault that is taking place in India is on our way of life. The tradition in Inda something that Basavanna ji, Guru Nanak Ji, Gandhi ji emphasised – not to be under the impression that you know everything. The world is too big, too complicated for any one person to think that he knows everything. But that is the disease…we have a group in India that is absolutely convinced that we know everything.. I think they think they know even more than God. They could sit down with God and have a conversation and explain to him about what is going on. And of course, our Prime Minister is one such specimen.

If you sat Modi ji next to God, Modi ji would start explaining to God how the universe works. And God would get confused that what have I created. It’s a funny thing but this is what is going on. We have a group of people who know everything. They can speak to scientists and explain science to them. They could sit next to historians and explain history to them…explain warfare to the Army, flying to the Air Force. At the heart of it is mediocrity, that they actually don’t understand anything.

And Rahul Gandhi would be doing Mann Ki Baat…  

If you look at our country has the ability to absorb any idea that comes. India has never rejected any idea. Everybody who has come to India has been received with open arms and their ideas have been absorbed. And that is the India we like. An India that respects the rest of the world.. India that is humble.. that listens and is affectionate. And that is the India that you represent. You would not be here if you did not agree with these values. 

Also Read: Congress will win 150 seats in Madhya Pradesh, says Rahul Gandhi

If you believed in anger, hatred, arrogance, you would be sitting in a BJP meeting. And I would be doing Mann Ki Baat. So thank you for holding up the Indian flag in America, showing Americans what it means to be Indian, respecting them, respecting their culture, learning from them and also allowing them to learn from you. You make us all proud. When we think of our country, you are all our ambassadors.

On Women’s Reservation Bill

We are committed to the Women’s Reservation Bill and we wanted to pass it when we were in government, but some of our allies were not too happy with it and they didn;t give us the support for that bill. But I am confident when we come to power we will pass that bill. If we empower women, involve them in the political system, give them space in the governance of the country, the businesses of the country we will automatically make them safe.

Constitution says India a union of states

If you read our Constitution, the definition of India is a Union of states. And within our Constitution is the idea that the languages, cultures, history of each one of our states have to be protected under the union. It’s already incorporated into our constitution. The BJP and the RSS are attacking that idea that you mention and also the Constitution of India. I understand that for Tamil people, Tamil is not just a language, it is their history, their culture, their way of life. And I will never ever allow Tamil language to be threatened. To me, threatening the Tamil language is threatening the idea of India. Just like threatening Bengali or Kannada or threatening Hindi or Punjabi are all attacks on India.              

On uprooting social and economic inequality                

One of the things that we are suggesting is when we were in government, we had carried out a caste census. The idea behind it was to take an X-ray of Indian society to find out the exact demographics of the country. What are the different communities, the different castes, how many people in each community, how many people in each caste… Because without understanding our demographics and who is who it is very difficult to distribute wealth, power effectively. That is one idea we had and we have been putting pressure on BJP to release the numbers in the caste census. Of course, they are not doing it and we will continue to do so. 

We are committed as the Congress party to making India a fair place and we understand deeply that India today, in terms of its treatment of Dalits, tribals, poor people, and minorities is not a fair place. There are many things that can be done. There is the NYAY scheme that we had which was aimed at providing minimum income to all Indians. There are ideas like MNREGA. Increase in spending on public education, public healthcare are all things that can be done to make India a much more equal and fair place.

On new Parliament building inauguration

I think the Parliament House (opening)…these are distractions. The real issues in India are unemployment, price rise, spread of anger and hatred, crumbling education system, price of education and healthcare. These are the real issues. BJP can’t really discuss them so they have to do the whole sceptre thing… You know, lying down and doing all of that. Aren’t you happy I am not lying down?

On ‘attacks’ against Muslims      

It (attack) is felt more strongly by the Muslim community because it is done more directly to them. But in fact, it is being done to all minorities. I can guarantee you that the way you are feeling attacked, I can guarantee you the Sikh and Christian brothers and sisters are feeling the same thing… The Dalit community is feeling the same thing, the tribal community is feeling the same thing. Anybody who is poor in India today, when he looks at the extreme wealth that a limited number of people have. In some way, he feels the same way as you (Muslims) feel — “How is it that these 5 people have lakhs of crores and I have nothing to eat?” You (Muslims) feel it the most since it is directed at you most aggressively. But it is a phenomenon that is taking place against everybody in India.         

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday arrived in San Fransisco as part of his three-city visit to the United States of America (USA) during which he is scheduled to participate in a slew of interactions and programmes with the Indian community, think tanks and businesses.