From 'Rahul Savarkar' to 'logon ko ladwao': Highlights from Congress' Bharat Bachao rally

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Congress party organised a massive 'Bharat Bachao' rally in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Saturday. On one hand, the rally marked a formal protest against the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Bill, and on the other, reiterated all the points on which the grand old party has serious reservations with the government. 

In a massive show of force, senior Congress leaders from the lengths and breadths of the country were present on stage and were openly demonstrating their thoughts in front of the huge gathering comprising of both the Congress party workers and the general public who had come there to listen to the main opposition party.

The rally was rolled out on the pattern where party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala called out senior Congress leaders one by one to come forward and address the rally. A plethora of Congress stalwarts spoke from the podium including the three Gandhi's -- Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka. Apart from them, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia also addressed the gathering.

Here are the top takeaways from the Bharat Bachao Rally 

'My name is Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar'

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi delivered a fiery speech in which he gave a reply to the BJP MPs calling for an apology from Rahul for his 'rape in India' remarks in an election rally in Jharkhand. 'My name is Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar', the Congress leader said in his defence. He reiterated his stand that he would never apologise for the truth. "I was asked to apologise in the Parliament yesterday by the BJP members. They tell me to apologise for the correct thing. I am not Rahul Savarkar, my name is Rahul Gandhi. I will never apologise for the truth. Neither will any party worker apologise...No one from Congress will apologise. It is Narendra Modi who should apologise. He should apologise to the nation. His assistant Amit Shah should apologise to the nation. I will tell you why they should that," he said while addressing the Bharat Bachao rally. 

Also Read | Won't apologise, 'mera naam Rahul Savarkar nahin': Rahul Gandhi on ‘rape in India’ remark

Andheri Nagri Chaupat Raja

Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi targetted the government and called on the people to 'fight against injustice'. She also said that the Congress party will not step behind and will fulfil its duty of saving the country and its democracy till the last breath. She used the phrase "andher nagri chaupat raja (confused leader, chaotic State)" for the Modi government and said that the country is asking for where is 'sabka sath, sabka vikas'? She also asserted the country will fight against the amended citizenship act as it "shreds" India's soul. "Suffering injustice is the biggest crime. It's time to rise to save democracy and Constitution. The time has come to save the country and we have to struggle hard for it," she added. 

Also Read | Modi-Shah duo believes in 'Logo ko ladwao, asli mudde chupao' agenda, says Sonia Gandhi

Jyotiraditya Scindia's dramatic poetic attack: Hindi movie in real life?

Gwalior royalty Jyotiraditya Scindia launched a dramatic, poetic attack on the government where he compared the 6 years of Modi sarkar as Hindi movie in real life. He accused the government of not looking after the youth or the farmers of this country. Scindia also took a dig at the government for the falling GDP figures in the last few years. He said that a common man was waiting for the 'achhe din' and what he got were lies and misleading narrative. 

Constitution will be Destroyed

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that India's Constitution would be destroyed if citizens didn't raise their voices and stayed in the darkness of fear and lies. "We will be as responsible for this as the arrogant and lying leaders of BJP-RSS," she said. Priyanka Gandhi took a jibe at the Modi government's slogan of 'Modi hai to mumkin hai',  "Har bus stop, har akhbar pe dikhta hai 'Modi hai to mumkin hai'. Asliyat ye hai ki 'BJP hai to Rs 100 kilo ki pyaaz hai, BJP hai to 45 saal mein sabse zyada berozgari mumkin hai, BJP hai to 4 cr naukriyan nasht hona mumkin hai," she said. Priyanka Gandhi also spoke of her meeting with the family of the Unnao rape-murder victim. She recalled the moments when the victim's father cried infront of her and the victim's sister was lost for words.  

Wrecked Indian economy in 6 months: P Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Modi government had wrecked the economy in six months, and that ministers were completely clueless. Chidambaram has come out all guns blazing against the government -- especially on the issue of the economy -- since he was released on bail in the INX Media money laundering case. The Congress is holding the Bharat Bachao rally to highlight the "failures" of the Modi government.

Congress: A United Front

Congress did portray a united front at the rally. From Ashok Gehlot to Manmohan Singh, from Jyotiraditya Scindia to Sachin Pilot and Kamal Nath, everyone echoed a similiar sentiment. They all had a common agenda today -- to attack BJP on it's policies. The Congress did not sound confused, did not sound double-minded and did not emit vibes of internal conflict. Something we cannot associated with the Congress party in the recent times. 

Rahul Gandhi came under heavy criticism especially by the BJP MPs after his 'Rape in India' comment in Jharkhand, but the Congress leader stood tall on his words and did not apologies. Rather he put the blame right back at the government. If at all, this united front will give India's relatively weak opposition a new breath of life and with it may be a cause to get right back up and fight for what they believe in. 

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