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NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked the central government and said that the government is “cutting off” the thumb of youths by “handing over” various sectors to the industrialist.
During a discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India, Lok Sabha LoP mentioned his last speech in which he described the Mahabharata and called themselves the defenders of the idea of the Constitution.
“I described, in my first speech, the idea of a battle taking place, I described the Mahabharata, described Kurukshetra. There is a battle taking place today in India. On this side (Opposition side) are the defenders of the idea of the Constitution. From each state we have one, if you ask us Tamil Nadu we will tell you Periyar, if you ask us Karnataka we will say Basavanna, if you ask us Maharashtra we will say Phule ji, Ambedkar ji, if you ask us Gujarat we will say Mahatma Gandhi. You praise these people hesitatingly because you have to. But the truth is that you want India to be run the way it used to be run earlier,” Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha.
He narrates the story of Eklavya and alleges that by bringing in lateral entry into government jobs they are chopping off the thumb of youth, backward class people, poor.
“The truth is you want India to be run the way it used to be earlier. When I was young, all around Delhi, there used to be forests. Right next to AIIMS, there was a jungle. In a similar jungle, thousands of years ago, a child six to seven years old used to wake up and practise. He would pick up the Dhanush and use the bow and arrow. He practised it for years. People got to know, and he went to his Guru. The child’s name was Eklavya, who went to Guru Dronacharya, and said that he has been trying to learn for years and has given all his powers to it. Dronacharya told Eklavya that you do not belong to upper caste and I won’t become your Guru and Eklavya left. He again started his tapasya. Few years later, Dronacharya and Kauravas and Pandavas crossed through the jungle and a dog was barking and suddenly, he went quiet,” Gandhi said.
“Dronacharya and Pandavas went close and saw that the dog was stuck in a trap of all three. One arrow was in his mouth, but he wasn’t hurt. Eklavya had done it. Dronacharya asked Eklvya who taught him this. He told he practised for hours and did tapasya. You refused to be my Guru, but I took a clay statue and I practised. Dronacharya wasnt happy, and said that you have to give gurudakshina. Dronacharya told him for gurudakshina you have to give your skils, you future and your thumb. He gave it to him. This is Abhay mudra. It has confidence, strength. Where does it come from? From the thumb. These people are against this, and you are trying to chop off the thumb of the country. You are cutting the thumb of the youth of this country,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“This is Abhayamudra. Confidence, strength and fearlessness come through skill, through thumb. These people are against this. The manner in which Dronacharya cut off the thumb of Eklavya, you are busy cutting off the thumb of the entire nation…When you hand over Dharavi to Adani, you cut off the thumbs of entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses. When you hand over India’s ports, airports and defence industry to Adani, you cut off the thumbs of all fair play businesses of India who work honestly,” the LoP said.
The LoP referred to Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s remark that there “is nothing Indian about our Constitution” to attack the BJP in Parliament and said that Savarkar believed that the Constitution should be “superseded by the Manusmriti.”
“VD Savarkar, says he clearly stated in his writings that there is nothing Indian about our Constitution… When you (BJP) speak of protecting the Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar, you are abusing Savarkar, you are defaming Savarkar,” Rahul Gandhi said.
He also reiterated his caste census promise, saying a “new kind of development” would take place in India if it was carried out.
“We want to tell every poor person, you are protected by the Constitution; BJP keeps attacking Constitution 24×7. I had promised in the House, we will implement a caste census; a new kind of development will take place in India after that,” the LoP said.
The Lok Sabha LoP asserted that they would ensure a 50 per cent cap on reservation is removed.
The first session of the winter Parliament commenced on November 25, with both Houses getting adjourned fairly early due to disruptions. The winter session will go on till December 20.
