New Delhi: In his first speech after taking over the reins of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the ruling BJP, accusing the Prime Minister of taking the country down the “medieval path where people are butchered for what they eat”.
Addressing party workers at the forecourt of the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said, “Once you set something on fire, it is very difficult to douse it. I have been trying to tell this to the BJP leaders. Today, the only one trying to douse the fire is Congress. They preach hate, we preach love.”
At the ceremony attended by the outgoing party president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul was formally handed over the election certificate for being chosen the party president unopposed.
The new president of the Congress exhorted the workers to challenge those who control the “machinery of fear” and “silence the voice of ordinary Indians”.
I want the Congress party to become an instrument for dialogue between Indian people, from all corners of our great country, all religions, all ethnicities, all ages and gender and for our dialogue to be led by love and affection. pic.twitter.com/VhjFDz2qht— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 16, 2017
First tweet by @OfficeofRG after becoming Congress President.
“What we are seeing today is politics devoid of kindness and truth. Politics is being used to crush and not to uplift people,” Rahul said in what appeared as an attempt to position himself against Prime Minister Modi ahead of the next general elections.
With an eye on electorate in the non-Hindi speaking states, the newly elected Congress President spoke in English as well. “For my friends in the South, I should say that the difference between the BJP and Congress is that they speak about themselves, whereas as we speak about others.”
नई शुरुआत की बहुत-बहुत बधाई भैया! pic.twitter.com/Akjl9iryU6— Amarinder Singh Raja (@RajaBrar_INC) December 16, 2017
Trying to infuse hope among party cadres, Rahul called them his family members and said: “I will love you from the bottom of my heart”.
“Like millions of Indians, I am an idealist. I joined politics because of my profound belief in my countrymen.”
Earlier during the ceremony, Sonia Gandhi set the tone for Rahul’s speech, asking Congress workers not to be afraid. “We are not the ones who bow down. Our struggle is for the soul of India. The fundamental values of India are being attacked on a daily basis and an environment of fear being created.”
Sonia also had a lesson for her son: “The Congress must reflect and be ready for sacrifice of any kind,” she said.
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