New Delhi, 15 January 2025- Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, attacked Mohan Bhagwat, the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for his comments regarding India’s independence and charged him with treason on Wednesday, saying that the BJP and the RSS had “captured every single institution” in the nation.
Bhagwat stated on Monday that the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya should be marked as “Pratishtha Dwadashi” since it marked the establishment of India’s “true Independence,” which had been threatened by “parachakra” (enemy attacks) for centuries.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Congress’s new headquarters in Delhi, Gandhi said, “We are getting a new headquarters at a very particular time. It is quite symbolic that yesterday, in a speech, the chief of the RSS said India never achieved Independence in 1947. He said true Independence was achieved when the Ram Mandir was built. This building is not an ordinary building. It has emerged from the soil of our country, emerged as a result of the hard work and sacrifice of millions of people, and not just sacrifice prior to the freedom movement but sacrifice until today.”
Speaking to Congress leaders following the inauguration of the new building, Gandhi claimed that India is currently experiencing a clash between two visions, one represented by the Congress and the other by the RSS. Gandhi further claimed that the visions of the Congress and RSS are at odds, saying, “We are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian state itself.”
Rahul Gandhi said,” we are fighting the BJP,RSS and the Indian state itself.”
He claimed that Bhagwat would have faced “treason” charges for his remarks in any other nation. He said that the Constitution was the result of the freedom movement, which Bhagwat attacked “when he says that the Constitution was not the symbol of our freedom.”
Shortly after his speech, BJP national president JP Nadda wrote on X, “Hidden no more, Congress’ ugly truth now stands exposed by their own leader. I ‘compliment’ Mr. Rahul Gandhi for saying clearly what the nation knows – that he is fighting the Indian state! It is not a secret that Mr. Gandhi and his ecosystem have close links with Urban Naxals and the Deep State who want to defame, demean and discredit India. His repeated actions have also strengthened this belief. Everything he has done or said has been in the direction of breaking India and dividing our society.”
He added, “Congress has a history of encouraging all those forces who want a weak India. Their greed for power meant compromising the nation’s integrity and betraying the trust of the people. But, the people of India are wise. They have decided that they will always reject Mr. Rahul Gandhi and his rotten ideology.”
Rahul added in his morning speech, “One theory holds that India is a union of states. I noticed that all of the national languages were arranged equally as soon as we entered the building. There are no superior or inferior languages, no superior or inferior cultures, no superior or inferior communities—all of them are the same. The Constitution states that, and this building serves as a symbol for it.”
“Alternatively, there is the notion of a centralized understanding or knowledge. Every two or three days, Mohan Bhagwat dares to share his thoughts on the Constitution and the Independence movement with the country. In fact, what he said yesterday is treason. Because it is stating that the Constitution is invalid, the fight against the British was invalid. And he has the audacity to say this publicly. In any (other) country, he would be arrested and tried. That is a fact. To say that India did not get Independence in 1947 is an insult to every single Indian. And it is about time we stop listening to this nonsense that these people think they can keep parroting… and shouting and screaming,” he said.
He said the “people who are in power today do not salute the tricolor, do not believe in the national flag, do not believe in the Constitution and they have a completely different vision of India that we do”.
“They want a shadowy, covert, secret society to rule India. In addition to wanting to silence the voices of the Dalits, minorities, backward castes, and tribal people, they also want to see India governed by a single man. Their goal is this,” Gandhi declared.