Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at the Centre over the farm protests and said there was “no democracy” in India and those who stood up against the PM were labelled terrorists, “even if it was (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat”.
“PM Modi is making money for the crony capitalists. Whoever will try to stand against him will be called a terrorist – be it farmers, labourers and even Mohan Bhagwat,” the Congress leader said, referring to the chief of BJP’s ideological mentor.
“There is no democracy in India. If you think there is, it’s in your imagination”.
Rahul Gandhi was speaking after leading a delegation of Congress workers to President Ram Nath Kovind to seek his intervention in ending the protests by farmers near Delhi over the three new farm laws.
Earlier, his sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was taken into preventive custody along with other party leaders when they tried to march to meet the President.
“Any dissent against this government is classified as having elements of terror. We are undertaking this march to voice our support for the farmers,” said Priyanka Gandhi.
She added, “Sometimes they (government) say we are so weak that we don’t qualify as Opposition and sometimes, they say that we are so powerful that we have made lakhs of farmers camp at the border (of Delhi) for a month. They should first decide what we are.”
Gandhi said it was a “sin” to use the kind of names they (BJP leaders and supporters) used for farmers. “If government is calling them anti-nationals, then the government is a sinner.”
Rahul Gandhi, who met President Kovind with Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said: “I told the President that these farm laws are anti-farmer. The country has seen that farmers have stood up against these laws.”
“I want to tell the PM that these farmers are not going to go back home until these farm laws are repealed. Government should convene a joint session of Parliament and take back these laws. Opposition parties stand with farmers & labourers.”
Opposition parties, which tried to block the farm bills in parliament, had earlier requested the President not to sign on the bills. The bills, they had said, were passed in the Rajya Sabha in an undemocratic manner. The President, however, had given his assent to all three bills. Rahul Gandhi was part of the opposition’s meeting with President Kovind on December 9.