Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, says party proposing elimination of Constitution

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has reiterated his allegation that the BJP is "capturing" the country's institutional framework, terming it an "attack" on the democratic system.

Addressing a gathering at the Hertie School in Berlin, Germany, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Centre has "weaponised" investigating agencies, suggesting a quid pro quo in which businessmen in India financially support the BJP rather than Opposition parties.

He said, "There is a wholesale capture of our institutional framework. Our intelligence agencies, ED and CBI, have been weaponised. ED and CBI have zero cases against the BJP, and most of the political cases are against the people who oppose them. If you are a businessman and try to support the Congress, you are threatened. BJP uses the institutional framework of India as a tool to build political power. Look at the money the BJP has and the Opposition has."

 

He added that Congress will create a "system of resistance" against the capture of institutions.

"There is an attack on the democratic system. We have to find ways to counter this. We will create a system of opposition resistance that will succeed. We are not fighting the BJP, but their capture of the Indian institutional structure," the Congress leader said.

Addressing the fact that the INDIA bloc parties are in contest in state and local elections against each other, Gandhi stated that the alliance is united against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's ideology while having "tactical contests" against each other.

He also accused the BJP of proposing to eliminate the Constitution and the idea of equality.

"All the parties of the INDIA alliance don't agree with the basic ideology of RSS. We are united on that question, but we have tactical contests, and we will continue to have them. We are united in the Parliament, and we will contest the BJP on laws that we disagree with. It is a deeper battle than simply elections. We are fighting a battle for an alternate vision of India. BJP is proposing the elimination of the constitution and equality between states, languages, and religions," he said.

Gandhi said that a large number of people do not support the vision of the Centre and the RSS and consider India to be "complex and diverse."

"There are millions of people in India who have a completely different vision of the country than the government of India and the RSS. This has existed throughout history. Are you going to be ruled by the whims of one person, or are you going to be ruled by a conversation? There are people who think we should have a strong leader, and all this discussion is a waste of time, and then the other side says that India is too complex and diverse, speaks multiple languages and has too many ideas for one person to decide its future. India should be a conversation between its states," the Congress leader said.

"A number of people in India support PM Modi. A lot of people do not agree with his ideology and the vision of India that he has. We think the vision will fail, and it has tremendous problems. It will create massive tensions in India and make the Indian people fight with each other. We will fight it. It is a clash between two visions in India," he added.

Rahul Gandhi is on a five-day visit to Germany.

Even earlier, the Congress MP has alleged an institutional capture by the RSS. During a discussion on electoral reforms in the Parliament, he had alleged that the ECI were "captured" by the RSS as part of its project to take over the country's institutions.

West, India handed over production to China: Rahul Gandhi

Claiming that India and the West have "handed over" the production of goods to China, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Made in China goods have crippled job creation in democracies, fuelling political turbulence across India, the United States and Europe.

Addressing an event at Hertie School in Berlin, Germany, Rahul Gandhi called for production in a democratic environment, arguing that democracy is required to sustain itself by producing goods.

Gandhi said, "The West and to an extent India, have handed over production to the Chinese. China dominates production today, which means that it is difficult to give employment to a large number of people. Countries like India, the US and Germany cannot give their employment based on services. How do democracies produce in this transition? What are the models that are required, how do you think about production in a democratic environment, and what are the types of partnerships that India, the US and Europe can create for production? It will become very difficult for democracy to sustain itself if we are not able to produce."

"A huge part of the turbulence that we are seeing in Europe, India and the US, polarisation of politics, is because we are not able to give our people jobs, which is because we said: China, you produce for the world," he added.

Rahul Gandhi flagged Made in China goods selling in India, and said that New Delhi has "capability, cost structure and population" to produce goods but has not done it yet.

"Everything that you see is made in China, and that, at least for a country like India, is a problem. We have the capability, cost structure and population to produce, but we have just not done it," he said.

Further, the Congress leader said that US' hegemony is being challenged "effectively," claiming that Washington DC is "struggling internally."

"We are in the middle of a socio-economic-political transition that is taking place. In India, we benefited greatly from the hegemony of the US from the 1990s till about 2014. We had tremendous advantages as we built a relationship, a partnership with them," Gandhi stated.

"We lived in a unipolar world, where the US had its shortcomings and made mistakes, but it defined the rules and structure. For the first time, that hegemony is being challenged effectively. We are seeing a dramatic reduction in American power across the spectrum: militarily, economically, and financially. A challenge is being posed to the US dollar and the financial system. The US is struggling internally and almost walking away from its earlier position," the Congress leader added.

His remarks come after he had claimed that manufacturing in India is declining.

During his visit to the BMW World museum in Munich, Germany, on December 17, he said, "Manufacturing is the backbone of strong economies. Sadly, in India, manufacturing is declining. For us to accelerate growth, we need to produce more - build meaningful manufacturing ecosystems, and create high-quality jobs at scale."

However, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari refuted the Lok Sabha LoP's claim, calling it "fake news" against India's growth story.

The BJP Spokesperson, in an X post, claimed 495 per cent growth in total electronics manufacturing in the last 10 years, with exports growing by 760 per cent, and a 14 times increase in the automobile manufacturing since 1991.

Problem with electoral machinery in India: Rahul

Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Congress won the Haryana Assembly elections in 2024 and the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024 "were not fair."

Lok Sabha LoP shared that their party did not receive a "response" from the Election Commission when they flagged the issue.

Addressing the Hertie School on "Politics Is The Art Of Listening", Rahul Gandhi said, "We have won elections in Telangana, Himachal Pradesh. We have been raising issues as far as the fairness of elections in India is concerned. I have done press conferences in India where we have clearly shown without a shadow of a doubt that we won the Haryana election and that we don't feel the Maharashtra elections were fair. There is a full-scale assault taking place on the institutional framework of our country. We asked direct questions to the Election Commission."

"A Brazilian woman was there on the voting list 22 times in Haryana... We did not get a response. We fundamentally believe that there is a problem with the electoral machinery in India," he added.

Rahul Gandhi also alleged that the Centre has "weaponised" investigating agencies, suggesting a quid pro quo in which businessmen in India financially support the BJP rather than Opposition parties.

He said, "There is a wholesale capture of our institutional framework. Our intelligence agencies, ED and CBI, have been weaponised. ED and CBI have zero cases against the BJP, and most of the political cases are against the people who oppose them. If you are a businessman and try to support the Congress, you are threatened. BJP uses the institutional framework of India as a tool to build political power. Look at the money the BJP has and the Opposition has."

He added that Congress will create a "system of resistance" against the capture of institutions.