Lucknow: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited his parliamentary seat Rae Bareli for the first time after the Delhi assembly election results on Thursday and stated that if Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had joined the INDIA bloc, the BJP would have lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Questioning the BSP leader's political approach, Rahul Gandhi asked, “Why does Mayawati not contest elections properly? We asked her to join the INDIA bloc but she refused. If all three the parties including Congress, Samajwadi Party and the BSP, had come together, the BJP would not have won.” During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party opposed Mayawati's inclusion in the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, TNIE reported.
During his two-day visit to Rae Bareli, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi interacted with a group of Dalit students from his constituency, and highlighted Dalits' contributions to the country's Constitution.
“Dr BR Ambedkar lacked facilities, yet he shook the entire political system,” he said. Listing some of the country's top 500 private corporations, Gandhi questioned the youth how many of these firms were led by Dalits. When a young person responded "None," Rahul Gandhi asked, "Why not?" Another young person replied, "We lack enough facilities."
In disagreement, Rahul Gandhi referenced Dr Ambedkar, claiming that despite having little facilities and working alone, he made a visible and noticeable impact on the country's politics. He said that Dalits have experienced prejudice and discrimination for years.
‘’Ambedkar kept this (discrimination) in mind when he prepared our Constitution....he gave power to the Dalits through the Constitution,’’ the Congress leader said. ‘’Every Dalit is an Ambedkar,” he added.
According to the former AICC chief, there is an entire system that opposes Dalit advancement. "The system attacks you every day, and more than half the time, you don't even realise how it's attacking you," said Rahul Gandhi adding that they needed to understand that the ideology of the Constitution was their ideology.
“I can guarantee you that if there were no Dalits in this country, there would be no Constitution. It's your ideology, it's your Constitution, but wherever you go, you are crushed," he stated.
Earlier, Rahul arrived in Lucknow on Thursday morning taking the road to Rae Bareli. He began by visiting the Hanuman Temple at the Churwa border before moving on to Bachhrawan and addressed a meeting of party workers there.
Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling BJP of attempting to divert people's attention away from serious issues and asked party members to continue working hard at the booth level for better results in the future.
He claimed that inflation had risen dramatically and that the BJP government was merely favouring capitalists. He further said that policies such as GST and demonetisation had caused an increase in unemployment.
“If the Central government will work with honesty, crores of youth can get jobs,” he said.