Farmers Movement Archive

Democracy has been supplanted by dictatorship: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said democracy in India has been supplanted by dictatorship with BJP and RSS capturing institutions, as he questioned the decision of the UP government to stop party members from visiting the kin of the Lakhimpur Kheri farmers crushed allegedly by the SUV of junior home minister Ajay Mishra’s son. Addressing a press conference before leaving for Lucknow, Rahul said that no action has yet been taken against the minister and his son. He said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Lucknow on Tuesday, he chose not to go to the scene of the incident. Drawing a link between the Hathras rape-murder, Unnao rape and Kheri, Rahul said, “In Unnao, there was rape by MLA. Here it is a minister. This is new kind of politics in UP. Criminals can do anything, rape or murder. Those who commit crime are free, while the victims and those who speak for them, go to jail.” “The opposition’s job is to build pressure, only then action is taken. The government does not want us to raise the issue in Kheri, so that people can go scot-free. Had we not gone to Hathras, the accused would have gone scot-free. Same in Unnao rape,” he said. He said the government does not understand the power of farmers and is instigating them out of sheer arrogance, which “is a bad idea”. “Farmers across the country are being victimised — first by land acquisition amendment and now by three farm laws. “The rights of farmers are being snatched and that is why the farmers are protesting,” he said. Saying that dictatorship has replaced democracy, Rahul said Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel was stopped from entering Lucknow on the pretext of Section 144 though he was alone, and “we are being told we too can’t go”. Rahul said that if the government did not change its ways, it will lead to an explosion that one cannot imagine.

The Times of India

2021-10-07

India