Mumbai: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi hits back at the BJP in powerful Nandurbar address on Indian Constitution and tribal rights. Gandhi said framing the upcoming elections as a battle of ideologies, the Congress led INDIA alliance is in favour of running the country according to Constitution, while the BJP is trying undermining it by labelling the Constitution as empty.
Gandhi delivered a direct kick at Prime Minister Modi. “This Constitution is not empty, Mr. Modi,” he said. Even ‘it’ — the thing they have as an exclusive domain — has the voices of the poor, the Dalits, the backward classes, the tribals. So how would those who haven’t read it know what it says?”
In reaction to criticism about the red cover of the Constitution, Gandhi said, They criticise me for showing a red covered Constitution. The colour doesn’t matter but that which is within. We are ready to defend what’s written in it whether it be red or some other colour.”
He stressed that the Constitution represents the philosophy of the historical icons of Birsa Munda, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and jyotirao Phule who are the soul of India and voice of the common people.
He took the point of terminology and said that the Constitution perceives Adivasis (tribals as India’s original inhabitants) with rights over “jal, jungle, zameen” (water, forest and land’). But he took exception to the BJP and RSS branding them as ‘Vanvasis’ (forest dwellers), a term he said denies them their rights. “It’s a big difference,” he said. Adivasi means ‘first residents of India’ while Vanvasi means the people who have no ownership of water, forest or land.’
Gandhi raised doubt over tribal representation in government welfare programmes and resources and called for a caste census to highlight the need for it. “In fact, do Adivasis receive such a fair share of our national wealth?” ‘It would reveal this disparity only through a caste census’, he said.
Gandhi lodged a complaint with the Maharashtra government over its relocation of major projects to other states and creating losses of jobs. He said 500,000 jobs have been lost because of these shifts and local youth are forced to seek work outside Maharashtra.
It laid the groundwork for a state which already feels an ideologically charged campaign, and which has been extremely preoccupied with pressing questions of representation, tribal rights and economic disparity.