Congress won't decide citizenship on basis of caste, religion: Rahul Gandhi

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday assured the people that if the Congress is voted to power, citizenship will not be decided on the basis of caste, religion or language, but on the principle of the idea of India.

He said the job of the grand old party is to protect the Constitution and the democratic structure of India.

Addressing a massive election rally of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in this northern Kerala district, he said that the Constitution protects the rights of every single Indian regardless of their religion, the state s/he comes from, the language s/he speaks and the culture s/he is part of.

"We will never decide citizenship on the basis of caste religion or language. We will decide citizenship based on the idea of India, nothing less," Gandhi asserted.

It is the "sacred duty" of the Congress to protect every single voice of this country regardless of caste, religion, language or age, he told the crowd, including hundreds of UDF workers gathered here.

Hitting hard at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said "it is a pity" that the Prime Minister does not understand India's nature.

"He does not understand that our multiple languages, traditions and religions are our biggest strength. He cannot see that from these multiple perspectives comes the most beautiful perspective. It is difficult for him to see this because his only quest is to remain in power," Gandhi alleged.

Further criticising Modi over electoral bonds, he said though the PM had claimed that it was designed to bring transparency into the political system, the Supreme Court ruled the scheme illegal.
 

The PM and the government did everything possible to stop the names of the companies and the dates of those donations from coming out, he further alleged.

"It (electoral bond) is the biggest extortion racket on the planet. It is a way to steal from the people of India and it has been organised and conceptualised by the Prime Minister himself," Gandhi alleged.

The operation of the BJP is to take the entire money of the country and give it to 20-25 businessmen, he said, making further accusations.

Gandhi did not spare the CPI(M) and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wither in his hard-hitting speech.

"My question is why the BJP is not attacking the Chief Minister of Kerala. Why are they not taking away his house, his chief ministership, putting court cases against him or getting him interrogated by the ED? After all, two CMs are in jail today," the Congress leader asked.

He also sought to know that why the CM has been attacking him all the time when the BJP is destroying the Constitution, attacking democracy, destroying institutions and dividing the country.

"I am very happy for him to attack me but he should also spend a little bit more time to attack the BJP or the RSS or Modi," Gandhi added.