LONDON: Democracy in India is a global public good and a central anchor for the planet and if that cracks, it is going to cause a problem for the planet, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has warned as he attacked the NDA government, asserting that there are two different designs of governance at play in India, one that stifles voices and the other that listens.
The Opposition leader, who is on a tour of the UK, had an interaction session at the ‘Ideas for India’ conference organised by non-profit think-tank Bridge India on Friday during which he articulated his party’s vision for mass action that would result in something “beautiful” for the country.
He attacked the “deep state” that is causing damage and declared that the Congress ideology is geared up to fight it.
“Please realise, what the BJP does is shout and stifle voices. What we do is listen. They are two different things, they are two different designs,” said Gandhi.
Joined at the conference by Opposition leaders, including CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and TMC’s Mahua Moitra, the Congress leader warned of “kerosene all over the country and all it needs is one spark”.
“A cadre is told you will say this and nothing else- it’s designed to push a particular set of ideas down people’s throats, whether it is the Communist idea or in the RSS system. We are not designed like that. We are designed to listen to the people of India and pull out their voice and place it on the table,” he said.
“Democracy in India is a global public good. It is a central anchor for the planet. Because we are the only people who have managed democracy at the scale that we have. If that cracks, it is going to cause a problem for the planet,” he said.
“We believe India is a negotiation between its people; The BJP & the RSS believe India is a geography; That it is a ‘Sone Ki Chidiya’ whose benefits should be distributed to a few. We believe everyone should have equal access,” the Congress Party quoted Gandhi as saying.
Asked about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Gandhi drew parallels with the Chinese actions in India.
“Russians say to Ukraine that we refuse to recognise your territorial integrity. We refuse to accept that these two districts belong to Ukraine. And we are going to attack you in these two districts to make sure that you break an alliance with NATO,” Gandhi said.
That is what Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing, he said.
“Putin is saying I am not ready for you to have an alliance with America. So on the question of your territorial integrity, I will attack you,” he said.
Please recognise the parallels between what is going on in Ukraine and what is going on in Ladakh and in Doklam, the Congress leader said.
Please realise that the same idea is at play.
There are Chinese forces sitting in Ladakh and there are Chinese forces sitting in Doklam, Gandhi said.
“The Doklam forces are designed for Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh forces are designed for Ladakh. And the same principle is there. What the Chinese are saying is that we do not accept your territoriality and we do accept your relationship with the US. So we have to realise that there is a problem on the border and whether we like it or not, we have to prepare for that problem. Because we don’t want to get caught off guard,” he said.
He said that his problem with the government is that they do not allow a discussion.
“Chinese troops are sitting inside India today. They have just built a huge bridge over the Pangong Lake. They are setting up the infrastructure. They are obviously preparing for something. But the government doesn’t want to talk about it. —PTI

Press Trust of India