'I don't hate Mr Modi, don't think of him as my enemy': Rahul Gandhi in US

In an interaction at Georgetown University in the US' Washington DC, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a cordial statement while speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he doesn't hate Mr Modi. He said that he, in fact, "empathises" with him.

Rahul said, "You will be surprised, but I don't actually hate Mr Modi. He has got a point of view. I don't agree with his point of view, but I don't hate him."

He further said, "It's not that I think that he is my enemy. He's got a different point of view, I have got a different point of view. I have empathy and compassion for what he is doing. And I think that's a much better place to be in instead of him versus me. I don't think that's productive."

Rahul Gandhi is on a three-day state visit to the U.S. to strengthen the bond between the two nations, as the latter is about to go to polls in November.

On the other hand, Gandhi also said that the RSS considers certain states and languages and religions inferior to others. He said that’s not what the idea of India is, which is a union of multitudes. 

“What the RSS is basically saying is that certain states are inferior to other states, certain languages are inferior to other languages, certain religions are inferior to other religions, and certain communities are inferior to other communities. You know what the fight is about…we are of the opinion that whether you are from Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, all of you have your history, all of you have your tradition, all of you have your language, and every single one of them is as important as the other one,” said Gandhi in Herndon. 

He also added that the fight in India is not about politics. He said that the fight is whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear a turban or a kada in India. 

"First of all, you have to understand the fight is not about politics. The fight is about whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear his turban or go to the gurudwara in India. It's not just for Sikhs, but for all religions," he said.