Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the BJP-led central government for excluding President Droupadi Murmu ,an Adivasi, from the recent ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya’s temple. He was giving a speech at a public gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi during the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’.
“Did you see the Ram Mandir event? It was held with great fanfare. But did you see any Dalit faces? Our President is an Adivasi, so she wasn’t allowed to attend the event. Did you see any farmer or laborer during the event? No backward class faces were anywhere seen during the event. But you must have seen Adani, Ambani and their families. All the businessmen were there. Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Narendra Modi were there,” he said.
On January 22, the historic temple in Ayodhya hosted the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Shri Ram Lalla, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the rituals alongside a group of priests. The event saw participation from individuals representing various segments of society.
Meanwhile, Gandhi said, “This is their India. This is not yours. All you do is chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, while all they do is have helicopter rides and make money.”
Emphasizing again on Congress’ promise to provide a legal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers, Rahul Gandhi said, “Farmers were stopped from entering the national capital. What are they demanding? All they are asking for is MSP; it’s no huge thing. The Congress party has promised a legal guarantee of MSP for farmers if voted to power.”
Speaking about caste census, he stated, “We have also promised a social X-ray of society, that is, caste census. We will get to know the percentage of the OBCs, Dalits and Backward Class people.”
The congress party and its allies in I.N.D.I.A bloc have been insisting the central government to organize a caste census across the country stating that it would facilitate policy formulation tailored to the needs of diverse communities according to their population distribution. BJP, the ruling party disagrees and believes it would lead to a division in society.
Earlier today, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resumed his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. The senior Congress leader is on a Manipur-Mumbai Yatra covering 15 states ahead of the Lok Sabha election. Amethi, once a stronghold for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, saw Rahul Gandhi’s defeat to Smriti Irani by approximately 55,000 votes in the 2019 elections.