The second phase of voting in Chhattisgarh and polling in MP is scheduled on 17th November whereas Rajasthan and Telangana are set to cast the ballot on 25th and 30th this month. The Gandhis, meanwhile, are attempting to appease both Hindus and Muslims. On 13th November, Rahul Gandhi shared a documentary-like video of his recent visit to Kedarnath Dham.
The 5 minute 13 second-long video shows the Congress scion sitting and conversing with sadhus, paying obeisance to Baba Kedarnath, donning the Tripund tilak and more. The entire video is coloured in a saffron that was once used by the Congress party to peddle the “saffron terror” narrative in the country.
In the video, Rahul Gandhi is centred around the many Hindu symbols in and around the temple as if affirming his “Hindu” identity. A part of the video shows Rahul having a conversation with a sadhu who has taken a vow of silence for the pas 11 years.
He asks the Sadhu, “Kyun kiya yeh aapna? (Why have you taken this vow?)” to which the sadhu replies in writing that “Yeh toh Kedar Baba hi jaane (Only Kedar Baba knows this).”
The sadhu baba then writes to Rahul, “Aap mere paas the nahin aaye, Kedar Baba aapko yahan lekar aaye hain (You have not come to me, Kedar Baba has got you here).” Rahul replies with a know-it-all, “Haan haan main jaanta hoon,” an assertive affirmation of sorts to appeal to the Hindus that he understands them.
Rahul Gandhi’s journey to establish himself as a Muslim-loving practising Hindu began in November 2017, that is 6 years ago when the Congress pitched him as “Janeudhari Hindu”. But naturally, no one, at least not the common Hindu, is not buying it so far. That is because, for one, given the Congress’ history with the experiment they did with Hindus by coining the term “saffron terror” in the Malegaon Blast case.
Not to mention that this hatred for Hindus in the Congress has always gone hand in hand with their blind and unconditional love for Islamists and the Muslim votebank. And because blood is thicker than water, this reflects in Rahul’s statements too time and again.
For example, in 2010, according to a cable by the then US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer, Rahul Gandhi felt that “the bigger threat (to India) may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community.”
The cable dated 3rd August 2010 was reportedly leaked by Wikileaks. It talked about a “candid conversation” between Roemer and Rahul Gandhi at the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton two weeks earlier.
Interestingly, the cable further mentions Rahul Gandhi’s response to Roemer’s query about Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) activities in the region and immediate threat to India. Gandhi reportedly downplayed the response saying that “there was evidence of some support for the group among certain elements in India’s indigenous Muslim community”.
But further added that the risk of a “home-grown” extremist front, in reaction to terror attacks from Pakistan or from Islamist groups in India, was a growing concern and demanded constant attention. Roemer added that Rahul Gandhi “was referring to the tensions created by some of the more polarising figures in the BJP such as Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.”
In 2014, Rahul Gandhi said that the very people who visit temples and worship Gods and Goddesses molest people in buses.
Even if one were to give the pre-2017 Rahul Gandhi a benefit of the doubt, he has defeated his own purpose time and again. For example, in 2018, he said he understands the Hindu religion better while also saying that he is not a “Hindutvawadi” leader.
Then, in 2021, Rahul raked up the controversy again by saying that there is a clash between two words in India’s politics, one being Hindu and another being Hindutva. Rahul said that these two words have two different meanings. “I am a Hindu, not a Hindutvawadi,” Rahul had said.
While attempting to project himself as a devotee, Rahul maintained the streak of insulting the Hindu faith as recently as in September this year. Rahul shared the stage in Paris with Hindu-hating author and columnist Christophe Jaffrelot.
These are some of the many reasons why Rahul Gandhi’s stint to convince the Hindu voter base of his faith holds no merit. But the attempts at appeasement continue nonetheless even as his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is campaigning to appease the Muslim voter base.
On 14th November, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra used Children’s Day to demonise Israel’s attack on Hamas in Gaza.
“On #ChildrensDay, today, let us remind ourselves that we have failed the thousands of children that are being massacred in Palestine every moment. They deserved better from humanity. We must all raise our voices and demand an end to the horrendous violence being committed against them,” Priyanka wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The death of children in Gaza is being used by Hamas to further its narrative of victimhood and to justify its terrorist attack on Israel on 7th October. Priyanka’s passionate condemnation of Israel’s war on terrorists has been ongoing ever since Israel began its crackdown on Hamas.
But the Congress leader did not post a single word condemning Hamas on 7th October when at least 1,400 people in Israel were butchered by the terrorists and at least 200 captured. Safe to say, the brother-sister duo have been campaigning to appease both communities but is failing to impact one while speaking for the other for all the wrong reasons.