Congress too made mistakes, will need to change its politics: Rahul Gandhi
Lucknow, May 10: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his party too has made mistakes and will have to change its politics in future.
The remark came at an event in Lucknow where he accused the Narendra of being a monarch and not a prime minister, calling him a front for “two three financiers”.
Answering a question from a member of the audience at the event on the Constitution, the former Congress president said he was “100 per cent” prepared to take on Narendra Modi in a debate, but he knew that the prime minister will not agree.
"The Congress party will also have to change its politics in the coming times. This will have to be done. I also want to say that the Congress party has also made mistakes and I am saying this while being from the Congress party," he said in his speech.
However, he did not elaborate on what “change” he felt the Congress needed.
The “Samvidhan Sammelan” was organised by the Samruddha Bharat Foundation.
Gandhi claimed that the ruling BJP will be restricted to less than 180 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
"I can give you in writing, if you want, that Narendra Modi is not going to be the PM again," he said, repeating the prediction he made at joint rallies in Uttar Pradesh earlier in the day with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
"Some people in politics only think of how to get power. I was born into it and have no interest in it. But for me it's just a tool to help public," he said.
He said 90 per cent of the population in India comprises of people from the SC/ST, OBC, Dalits, tribals, minorities and the poor from the general community who are not given equal participation.
He then repeated his call for a caste-based census.
"If the nation is to be strengthened, it cannot be done without including the 90 per cent. If you say that the 90 per cent will not come into bureaucracy, sports, media, judiciary and even beauty pageants, then what superpower will you make? Do you want to make 10 per cent of the population a superpower," he said.
He accused the prime minister of attacking the Constitution. "Modi ji is a king, I am telling the truth,” Gandhi said.
“He is not the prime minister, he is a king. He has nothing to do with the Cabinet, Parliament or the Constitution. He is the king of the 21st century and is the front for two or three financiers who have the real power."
At the end of his address, Gandhi took three questions including one on a recent suggestion that he and the PM should take part in a debate.
“I am 100 per cent ready to debate with anyone, with the prime minister. But I know the prime minister will not debate with me,” he said.
He added that party president Mallikarjun Kharge could also take part in a debate.
When asked about the Old Pension Scheme not being included in the party manifesto, Gandhi said the matter is “open to consideration”.
Asked if the institutions privatised by the Modi government will be nationalised again, Gandhi said, “It will be difficult but we will not allow the blatant privatisation of big institutions.”
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
