Kottayam (Kerala) [India], April 18 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of dividing the country whenever it gets an opportunity.
Addressing a public meeting in the Kottayam district of Kerala on Thursday, Gandhi emphasized the significance of regional languages. He said, "Malayalam is Kerala and Kerala is Malayalam. I get surprised when I hear PM giving speeches where he says one nation, one language, one leader and one religion. How can you tell Tamil people not to speak Tamil or people of Kerala not to speak Malayalam or the people of Bengal not to speak Bengali. Every single Indian language is as important as any other language," Gandhi said.
He further criticized the BJP, alleging, "BJP does this with language, place, caste, and religion. Whenever they get an opportunity, they divide the country."
Gandhi also turned his attention to the economic disparities in India, stating that 22 people in india have as much wealth as 70 crore of our citizens.
"Today India is one of the most unfair countries in the world. 22 people in india have as much wealth as 70 crores of our civilians. In the last 10 years Mr. Narendra Modi government has put 200 million people back to poverty. How can we talk about being a superpower? Our farmers are screaming for help, and our youngsters are unemployed. How are we a superpower?," Gandhi said.
Kerala, whose all 20 constituencies go to the poll on April 26 in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election, is witnessing high-voltage political activities on Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also holding campaign rallies in the state.Rahul Gandhi is pitted against CPI's Annie Raja and BJP's state president, K Surendran.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi won from Wayanad with a huge margin of over 4.31 lakh votes; the highest margin in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Kerala. He secured 64.94 per cent vote share, defeating LDF candidate PP Suneer. The NDA had fielded BDJ (S) leader Tushar Vellapally, who secured just around 78,000 votes, which accounted for a mere 7.25 per cent.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 out of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While the Congress won 15 seats, its allies, the Indian Union Muslim League, won two seats, the Revolutionary Socialist Party won one, and the Kerala Congress (M) won one seat.