BJP-RSS only interested in power, working towards dividing country: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Jul 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi charged on Thursday that the BJP-RSS are only interested in power and are working towards dividing the country as they do not care about the sorrow and pain of people.
Addressing a Youth Congress programme virtually, Gandhi said, "The BJP-RSS only want power and can do anything to get power. For power, they will burn Manipur, they will burn the entire country. They don't care about the sorrow and pain of the country."
Be it Haryana, Punjab or Uttar Pradesh, "they will sell the entire country as they only want power," Gandhi alleged and added that for the Congress, this is the fight.
"On one side, you are sitting and you have love for the country and whenever the country is hurt or its citizens are hurt, you will also feel hurt and you will be sad. But, they do not have any such feeling.... The RSS-BJP people do not feel any pain. Because they do the work of dividing the country and have been doing it for centuries," he told the Indian Youth Congress workers.
Addressing the "Behtar Bharat Ki Buniyaad" convention in Bengaluru virtually, Gandhi said the fight is between the BJP-RSS who are only interested in power and dividing the country and the Congress ideology of loving and caring people and uniting the country.
"...you are the future of the Congress party, you have patriotism in your heart. When the country gets hurt, wherever it is, be it in Manipur, be it in Tamil Nadu, be it in Jammu and Kashmir, be it in Uttar Pradesh, be it anywhere, when the country gets hurt, any citizen of the country gets hurt, whether he is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Tamil speaking, Bengali speaking, your heart will hurt. You will be sad, you will not even know why the mood got spoiled. But there is no such thing in their heart," he said.
The BJP, however, said it is not an ideological battle going on in the country but a battle for development and progress against dynastic politics and corruption.
Gandhi said the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him from Kanyakumari to Srinagar has shown that one should go to people, embrace them, suffer a bit for them and bear some pain.
"If you do this task, you will become the leader of the Congress in the coming times. If you do not feel pain in your heart, then you cannot become a leader of the Congress party. If Manipur is hurt and you are not hurt, then you cannot become the leader of the Congress. If a woman is raped and you do not feel pain in your heart, then you cannot become a leader of the Congress party," he said.
The former Congress chief said the slogan of "nafrat ke bazaar mein, mohabbat ki dukaan kholiye" (we have to open a shop of love in the market of hatred) emerged from the Bharat Jodo Yatra and asked the Youth Congress workers to do this work.
Accusing the BJP-RSS of having opened a market of hatred in Manipur, he said, "Let us go and open the shop of love. Wherever they spread hatred, go there and open a shop of love."
On the opposition bloc naming itself Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, Gandhi said, "We are INDIA and as soon as we named it, Narendra Modi ji started abusing the same INDIA, he didn't even think that he was abusing the holy word Hindustan. There is so much pride and arrogance (in him)...."
Gandhi alleged the RSS wants to capture all institutions and instal their people in these institutions.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Targeting the prime minister, Gandhi told the convention, "You will be surprised that the prime minister did not say a word about Manipur.... Many of you must have felt that he should fly to Imphal and talk to people there at least."
"Any other prime minister in the past, a Congress prime minister would have sat there, but you must be wondering why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not going to Manipur?... Because Narendra Modi ji is the prime minister of a few selected people, the prime minister of the RSS, he has nothing to do with Manipur," Gandhi alleged.
In his address to the media, Prime Minister Modi has condemned the parading of two women naked Manipur saying it has shamed the entire country. The Congress has been demanding that the prime minister makes a statement in Parliament on the Manipur situation.
Gandhi alleged that the BJP-RSS know that their ideology has "burnt" Manipur, "but it doesn't matter to Narendra Modi ji and I can guarantee that the prime minister did not feel the pain in his heart on Manipur".
The ruling BJP has accused the opposition of avoiding a discussion on Manipur in Parliament and disrupting proceedings.
The northeastern state of Manipur has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3, in which more than 160 people have lost their lives.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
