I erase hatred, fear, I'm Congress: Rahul hits back at BJP
New Delhi, July 17 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit back at the BJP over alleged "Congress is for Muslims" remarks, spelling out in a tweet the philosophy of the party that "stands with the last person in the line" whose religion or caste doesn't matter.
In a widely shared and liked tweet, Gandhi said: "I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me.
"I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress."
The tweet, not directed at any individual or a party, apparently came in response to BJP's unabated criticism over his reported remark that the Congress was a party of Muslims.
The BJP has been latching on to these remarks Gandhi reportedly made during a meeting with Muslim intellectuals. The ruling party said Gandhi and his party were indulging in communal politics ahead of the 2019 elections.
The alleged remarks were reported by an Urdu daily even as one some participants in the meeting denied Gandhi made such controversial reference.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi both targeted the Congress President over the issue.
"I read in the newspapers that (the) naamdaar (referring to Gandhi) said the Congress is a party of the Muslims. I am not surprised... When the previous Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) was in charge, he said openly that the first use of natural resources should be with Muslims," Modi said at a public meeting in Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
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Kumaraswamy to visit Andrew Yule's tea gardens in Assam soon
Guwahati(PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said he would soon visit tea gardens, owned by public sector enterprise Andrew Yule, to revive its estates as workers are facing immense hardship.
Kumaraswamy, the minister of steel and heavy industries, thanked Assam Industries Minister Bimal Borah for apprising him of various challenges being faced by the tea gardens and the need to support the management to alleviate suffering of workers.
"We are concerned about the economic challenges and hardship of the tea gardens owned by Andrew Yule Group in Assam and its impact on the wage earners," Kumaraswamy said at a press conference here.
The tea garden wage earners will also get a 20 per cent Durga Puja bonus, like workers of other gardens, he said.
Referring to his recent visit to the Cement Corporation of India Ltd factory at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district, Kumaraswamy said there was a plan for the revival of the cement industry in the state by investing Rs 700 crore.
He also emphasised on the need for a cement manufacturing unit in the northeastern states.
On the current development of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) policy utilisation in Assam, the union minister said more than Rs 2,000 crore would be invested for battery charging stations and nearly 70,000 such facilities will be set up across the country.
More than 18,000 e-buses will also be purchased to fulfil the goal of carbon emission reduction, Kumaraswamy added.
