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India Being Led By A Regressive Vision, Says Sonia Gandhi

The country’s freedom in the current political scenario is under systematic and sustained threat, said Sonia Gandhi.



Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi. (Photo: PTI)
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi. (Photo: PTI)

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said that an alternative and regressive vision is being presented in the country and the freedom and the society at large face a systematic threat.

Speaking on the sidelines of the India Today Conclave in Mumbai today, Gandhi said, “Our country, our society, our freedom are now all under systematic and sustained threat. There is rewriting of history, falsifying facts and fanning prejudice and bigotry.”

“We are now presented with an alternative and an indeed regressive vision,” she added.

“Was India really a giant black hole before May 2014 and started marching towards progress only four years ago? Is this not an insult to the intelligence of of our people? It is not a matter of taking credit but acknowledging India’s strength,” said the Lok Sabha member from Rae Bareli.

She also said that callous remarks about changing the Constitution were deliberate attempts to subvert the essence of India it enshrines.

Provocative statements from the ruling establishments are not random or accidental but a part of a dangerous design. Alternate voices are being silenced. Freedom to think, marry according to one’s wishes is under attack. Religious tensions are being fuelled, vigilante mobs and private armies have been let loose.
Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh (left) is greeted by Congress party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi as the party’s President Sonia Gandhi (centre) looks on before what the party calls the “Save Democracy” march to parliament in New Delhi on 6 May 2016. (Photo: Reuters)
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh (left) is greeted by Congress party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi as the party’s President Sonia Gandhi (centre) looks on before what the party calls the “Save Democracy” march to parliament in New Delhi on 6 May 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

Seventy one-year-old Gandhi alleged that there is shocking insensitivity to atrocities on Dalits and women and that the society is being polarised in a bid to win elections.

“Long standing principles that have stood the country well are being violated. Parliamentary majority is being interpreted as a licence to stifle debate and bulldoze legislations. Political opponents are being targeted through misuse of investigative agencies,” she claimed.

Hitting out at the BJP, she said that the judiciary is under turmoil, freedom to differ, eat and marry is under attack and India’s “social DNA” is being re-engineered.

“Does maximum governance mean minimum truth? Does it mean alternative facts take the place of uncomfortable reality? Take jobs for instance. Everyone knows employment situation is grim but all of a sudden we are told seven and a half million jobs were created in 2017,” said Gandhi. “This claim was widely debunked. But, does it really make a difference? It doesn’t. Because as soon as one myth is demolished another takes it place,” she added.

Watch this discussion with BloombergQuint’s Sanjay Pugalia on why the Gandhis are scaling up the attack on the BJP.