Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday called out BJP’s ideological mentor, the RSS, for discriminating against women and “disempowering” them.
“RSS idea is aimed at disempowering women. Does anyone know many leadership positions are with women in RSS? Zero,” Rahul said at St Edmund’s College in Shillong.
Touting his own party’s “pro-feminist” credentials, Rahul said: “If you see a picture of Mahatma Gandhi, you’ll find women on this side (right), this side (left). But, if you see a picture of Mohan Bhagwat, he’ll be alone or surrounded by men.”
The Gandhi scion charged that far from empowering women, the saffron outfit was “giving more power” to men so they can “dominate without fear in the society.”
“In our society, women have a very large space. They play a crucial role in decision making and running things. However, the RSS does not believe in women’s rights,” Rahul said.
He went on to claim that if the BJP formed its government in Meghalaya, then there would be a threat to the state’s culture, religion and way of living.
“We are fighting the RSS ideology across the nation. The idea is that one form of thinking is imposed on the country. What the BJP and RSS are doing all over India, particularly in North-East, is attempting to undermine your culture, language and way of life,” he said.
He also appealed to women to join the Congress party, so that their interests and issues can find greater representation in politics.
In the past too, the Congress president has accused the RSS of not giving women equal representation in its organisation. During a campaign rally in Gujarat last year, Rahul had asked if anyone had ever seen women at an RSS ‘shakha’ meeting wearing shorts, the group’s trademark khaki uniform. He had also targeted the ruling BJP over its preference for “silent” women.
Congress sources said that during interactions with religious leaders of Christian-majority state, the AICC president highlighted BJP’s Hindutva agenda and also the fear among the Christians following recent attacks on them, especially in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP has been persistent in saying that the saffron party has nothing to do with the culture, customs, food habits and religious practices of Meghalaya, which is one of the beef consuming states in the country. BJP has deployed the only Christian face among NDA ministers, Union minister of state for tourism, Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam to allay reservations among Christian electorates on BJP.
People made Epic reactions and made fun of Rahul Gandhi:
