Monday, 19 January 2026
Monday, 19 January 2026
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the BJP-led Centre of weakening democratic voices to favour a small group of corporates seeking control over national assets.
Speaking at the ‘Maha Panchayat’ event organised by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) at Marine Drive in Kochi, Rahul said, “The BJP wants everyone in this country to be silent and only a few corporates to thrive and control the entire property of the nation.”
The Congress leader said the core ideological divide between the Congress and the BJP–RSS lay in how power was structured in the country.
"If you look slightly deeply at the difference between the BJP, the RSS and the Congress party, you will see that they stand for centralisation of power, and we stand for decentralisation of power. They want compliance from the people of India. They do not want to hear the voice of the people of India," he said.
He alleged that dissent was discouraged so that “only a few corporates” could benefit, while the wider population was pushed into silence. He warned that silence, whether driven by fear or self-interest, was corrosive to democracy.
"All over the country, we see people who believe something but don't have the courage to say it. But great nations are not built in silence. Great nations, great people are built when they express their views and opinions, and fight for them," Rahul said.
The Congress leader linked this silence to what he called a growing culture of greed, where individuals chose not to react to injustice as long as their lives remained unaffected.
Such indifference, he said, allowed humiliation and violence to continue unchecked.
Drawing a contrast with Kerala, the Congress leader said attempts to mute public opinion would not work in the state. “I can say with 100 per cent certainty that nobody can silence the people of Kerala,” he said, adding that the state had a long tradition of political participation and debate.
At the event, organised after the UDF’s success in local body elections, Rahul underlined the role of grassroots governance in protecting constitutional values.
“The third tier of governance (local body polls) must be protected to safeguard our Constitution. That is why the UDF’s victory in Kerala’s local body elections is more special,” he said.
Referring to the Congress’s role in strengthening local self-government, Rahul recalled the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, which institutionalised the Panchayati Raj system.
Decentralised governance, he said, was not an administrative choice but a constitutional principle.
Looking ahead to state politics, the Congress leader said internal discussions within the party had addressed electoral prospects but stressed that winning elections alone was not enough.
"What is the UDF and the Congress party going to do once they win the election? There is a huge unemployment problem in this state. The UDF and the Congress party have to provide a vision for Kerala which addresses this unemployment problem, and I am confident that the leadership on this stage has the ability to understand what the people of Kerala want and deliver what the people of Kerala need," he said.
He also referred to a warning from Malayalam writer M. Leelavathi about the spread of silence across the country, saying it reflected a broader democratic concern.
The UDF Maha Panchayat was attended by several senior Congress leaders, including MP Shashi Tharoor.
