Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra represented 'Stree Shakti' and likened her to icons who fought against the British — Kittur Rani Chennamma and 'Jhansi Ki Rani' Lakshmi Bai — and hailed Rahul Gandhi as a symbol of 'Yuva Shakti'.
Addressing the 'Gandhi Bharat' event here, Kharge said the Congress has organised the event to commemorate the centenary of lone Congress session held in Belagavi, which Mahatma Gandhi had chaired as the grand old party's president way back in 1924.
"If there is Kittur Chennamma it's Priyanka Gandhi. If there is 'Jhansi Ki Rani', it's Priyanka Gandhi. She is very strong. She stabilised the family after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. "We have Stree Shakti (in Priyanka Gandhi) and Yuva Shakti, which is Rahul Gandhi," he said.
Themed as 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan', the event targetted Union Home Minister Amit Shah for "insulting" the Indian Constitution and its architect BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha recently.
The Union Minister has dismissed the allegation as a "lie".
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on the occasion that no government in the past had insulted the Constitution and its architect BR Ambedkar inside Parliament the way Union Home Minister Amit Shah had.
She alleged that the BJP wanted to "weaken" the Constitution and its institutions.
Also read: Rahul skips Belagavi Gandhi Bharat event, cites health issues
Kharge also recalled Gandhi's famous statement delivered in Belagavi, 'Main Jinda Rahna chahta hoon Bharat ke liye, Marna chahta hoon Bharat ke liye (I want to live for India and die for India).
He claimed that Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Gandhi, was the disciple of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah show respect for Gandhi, they actually worship Godse, he added.
The Congress veteran also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "playing a game" by alleging differences between Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Gandhi and Ambedkar.
Countering the BJP's claim that Congress insulted Ambedkar by ensuring his defeat, Kharge showed a letter to the public, which he claimed was written by Ambedkar to his friend Kamalakant where he mentioned that Savarkar and SA Dange were responsible for his defeat.
"The BJP today keeps chanting Ambedkar's name and bows before the Constitution. What drama is this? If there is anyone who burnt the Constitution, Ambedkar and Nehru's statues, it's BJP and the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha," Kharge said.
The Congress chief said it was the grand old party which helped Ambedkar win the election.
He also alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamseavak Sangh is "troubling" Dalits and backward communities in the universities while there are recruitment for Dalits in the government sector.
On the surveys of mosques happening in the country, Kharge said, "BJP and RSS are tracing temples beneath mosques. Why are they doing this? They will repent because this is dangerous for the unity of the country." The veteran Congress leader took a dig at Modi for his purported statement that people came to know about Mahatma Gandhi after watching Richard Attenborough's movie titled "Gandhi".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could not be present at the programme owing to health issues.
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