JAMMU: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi struck a chord with the people of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday and said he considers himself their soldier in New Delhi, adding that his doors are always open for party workers, the “lions of Congress”. Taking a dig at the prime minister, Gandhi said Modi’s body language and confidence have changed drastically following the results of the parliamentary elections.
“You know my relationship with you. It is not a political connection. It is a relationship of love and family origin. My family comes from your state,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha told Congress workers. He was addressing them on the second and last day of his visit to poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir.
“You should always feel that you have a sepoy in Delhi. I am your sepoy. Whatever you need, my doors are always open for you,” he said. “You have only to give me an order and I will be present before you,” Gandhi said to loud applause.
Accompanied by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Gandhi referred to party leaders as his “generals” and workers as “sepoys.” He stressed that both must be respected in all situations, even during alliances with other parties.
In an apparent dig at former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, without naming him, Gandhi told party workers: “When there was a difficult moment and you and your ideology were under attack, you still fought on the ground, keeping the flag high. Several people threw down the flag and ran away. You did not run away. You faced bullets, sticks and abuse, and you stood firm. I call you the lions of Congress.” Claiming that the Congress and its workers have shaken Prime Minister Modi’s confidence, Gandhi remarked that he has lost the self-assured body language he displayed before the elections.
“Congress workers have given him so much psychological stress that his confidence has been badly shaken. Congress workers have forced him to bow down to the Constitution. He is not the same prime minister as he was before the elections,” he added. He asserted that the Congress will continue to challenge the BJP across the country.
“Whenever they try to do anything wrong, they will find the Congress challenging them. The Congress and its workers have saved the Constitution and democracy in the country. We will thwart their plans. They will not be allowed to pass their bills,” he said.
Gandhi claimed that the Congress is locked in a battle of ideologies with the BJP. “It is a fight between the ideologies of the Congress and that of the RSS.” On the issue of the Congress’ distribution of ballot papers in Jammu and Kashmir, Gandhi expressed his desire that ballot papers be given to the grassroots workers. “They should be given a chance to become MPs. I want to see them in the assembly.” He also called for restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest. He said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have gained nothing from the present regime, which has handed over all the resources of the region to “outsiders.”
Gandhi and Kharge were received and honoured with a Dogri pagri and a photograph of Mata Vaishnodevi.
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