Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Tamil Nadu where he said he loves dosas, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he also loves dosas but the PM should try to understand the history, context and language of the state too.
“The prime minister recently went to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has the most brilliant poets like Kerala does, huge history, huge tradition, war fought over there, people sacrificed their lives…but the prime minister says ‘I love dosas’...Brother! I also like dosas but please try and understand the history, the tradition, and the language of the state also…and also realise that the dosa in Tamil Nadu is completely different from the dosa in Kerala…and you also understand that the dosa in Kerala is different than other dosas in Kerala…and that is the genius of our country. This is why our country is so great…and you are trying to change it,” said Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Kannur in Kerala.
He said that the Congress party and the United Democratic Front (UDF) accept multiple languages, traditions and histories but the BJP wants to impose 'One History, One Nation, and One Language' on the people of India. "Malayalam is not just a simple language. Malayalam carries the history, the tragedy, the happiness, the sadness, and the brilliance of the people of Kerala," he said.
Further lashing out at the prime minister, Gandhi questioned if PM Modi asked the farmers and labourers before demonetisation what would happen to them. “When COVID-19 struck India, and lakhs of people were dying, there was no oxygen or ventilators and the Prime Minister said, ‘thali bajao’. Because you don't understand India and take decisions without asking anybody, you're causing tremendous damage to the country,” the Congress leader said.
Gandhi also touched upon the ethnic conflict in Manipur. “I went to Manipur and I went to see both the communities, Meitei and Kuki. They don't talk to each other, there is no conversation between them. For the first time in my life, I have experienced this: There is a fire burning in Manipur; people are still dying,” said Gandhi.
The Congress leader also criticised Kerala CM and asked how come the BJP does not go after Pinarayi Vijayan even when he claims to be fighting an ideological battle against the BJP. “This is something that the people of Kerala should think about,” he said, while referring to the obstacles he had faced.
“If someone is attacking the BJP, the BJP will attack him 24/7. When I walk into Parliament House, BJP MPs look at me and say, ‘This man disturbs us 24/7’. But there's a cost to this. Their media channels abuse me, my image is distorted, my Lok Sabha membership was taken away, the ED interrogated me for 55 hours, and they threw me out of the government house,” he said.