The state of the economy — the weak rupee, high petrol prices, the stock market implosion, unemployment, et al — is the “price of hatred”, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday.
He said the political battle at hand was an “ideological war” against efforts to “impose one singular, suffocating memory on our 1.3 billion memories”.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Rahul said: “The Indian government has gone to war with its own people because it wants to impose one imagination on 1.3 billion of us…. What is the nature of this war?
“Farmers are committing suicide by the thousands. The economy is decimated. The rupee is on its knees. Petrol (price) is at an all-time high. The stock market has imploded. Twelve lakh crore in non-performing assets and the banking system is jammed shut…. Public confidence is in tatters. This, my friends, is the price of hatred.”
Aspiration, on which the Modi dispensation was voted in, “is turning into anger”, the Congress chief said, identifying the need to defuse the rage and hatred that is being spread as an urgent need of the hour during the question-answer session.
Rahul also sought to dispel the impression that is sought to be created about him being anti-industry.
“I don’t view the world in silos. I view the world as a set of partnerships and there is space for everybody. The problem today is that the conversation between these different groups has broken down.... I think every single person in this country has a stake in this country. Whether he is rich/poor, he has to be listened to and he has to be worked with to create a vision,” the Congress leader said.
He told the well-heeled gathering that many of the UPA programmes, particularly the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, were misunderstood by industry.
“The NREGA was called a handout. But, in fact, the NREGA was an injection of capital into the Indian village. The NREGA was designed to fire the rural economy, and the NREGA fired the rural economy. And it resulted in a tremendous amount of economic growth….”
At the same time, Rahul pointed out that the NREGA, without economic liberalisation, is a complete waste of time. Finding the middle path between the need to bring up the human index and also facilitate the engines of growth is the way forward, he said, adding that all have to be brought into the conversation and every side would have to make a bit of a compromise in the process.Optimistic about the forthcoming Assembly elections, Rahul was hopeful of BSP leader Mayawati being part of the coalition that is being attempted for the Lok Sabha polls. “The indication we have is that they will be part of the alliance for 2019.”
Mayawati has ruled out a tie-up with the Congress for the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh elections this year-end but acknowledged the “honest intentions” of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.
While he dwelt at length on the takeover of institutions by the BJP and the RSS, the Congress president did not spare the UPA for the manner in which it built institutions.
Rahul was referring to the opening of AIIMS units in different parts of the country, pointing out that while it was a great institution, it had been modelled in the 1950s and required a transformation or re-imagination, not replication.
