Almost 50 years since former Prime Minister and Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother gave the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eradicate poverty), not much seems to have changed as even after being in power for most of these five decades, Rahul Gandhi is still promising to ‘end poverty’ once Congress comes to power.
Addressing the AICC minority event, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that once voted to power, Congress will end poverty. In 1971, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used the ‘Garibi Hatao’ theme in the election campaign. Clearly, despite Congress being in power for most of the period in these five decades, nothing seems to have changed.
But it is not just his grandmother whom Rahul Gandhi is trying to emulate. Taking a leaf from his father Rajiv Gandhi’s book of minority appeasement, Congress party today said that if voted to power, they will scrap the Triple Talaq Bill brought in by the Modi government which makes triple talaq an offence. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi overturned the 1984 Supreme Court judgement by passing The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.
While the Supreme Court of India had granted Shah Bano the right to maintenance, the Rajiv Gandhi led Congress government in the centre succumbed to the possible confrontations from the Muslim Personal Law Board. Rajiv Gandhi’s government passed a law in the name of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 and basically reversed the Supreme Court Verdict. The SC verdict that could have been the harbinger of equal rights to all Muslim Women as the rest of the women of this country was overturned in the name of Muslim appeasement.
Gandhi then took on the BJP and said that BJP’s aim is to destroy all institutions. “BJP President is not letting the Supreme Court work. They consider themselves above India. They think India is below and we are above it. In three months, the country will teach them that India is above and they are below,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Threatening to purge the RSS workers from government offices, Rahul Gandhi further said that “I will tell you about Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh. Since 15 yrs, MP and Chhattisgarh, the government didn’t work. Every institution was being filled with RSS people. Kamal Nath told me, in Madhya Pradesh, special ministry was set up with Rs 800 crore – that money went to RSS people. I want to assure you that not only have we won the election, but one by one, we are removing everyone who is associated with the RSS from these government organisations.”
So, essentially, if you are a government official and are a Swayamsevak, Congress will root you out and go after your employment. The revenge politics game is quite strong in Congress.