On Tuesday, February 21 Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that India has become a fascist country under Modi’s regime.
Speaking during an interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, the Gandhi scion said, “Fascism is already there. Democratic structures collapse. Parliament is no longer working. I haven’t been able to speak for two years; as soon as I speak they take my microphone off. The balance of power is off. Justice is not independent. Centralism is absolute. The press is no longer free.”
When asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be defeated in the next election, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed confidence in Opposition unity, claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party would be defeated completely if the other parties banded together.
“… it’s sure he (PM Modi) can be beaten. Provided you support a vision, not linked to the right or the left, but to peace and union. Fascism is defeated by offering an alternative. If two visions of India confront each other in the vote, we will be able to prevail,” said the Gandhi scion.
Not only today but the Congress party under the tutelage of Rahul Gandhi and its coteries have time and again labeled Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘Hitler’ and a ‘fascist’. Yet, Rahul Gandhi’s labeling of Modi as a fascist is rather ironic considering that his Italian maternal grandfather was a proud fascist himself.
For the uninitiated, Stefano Maino, Rahul Gandhi’s maternal grandfather served as a foot soldier in Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s army. While the mainstream media was successful in effectively obscuring the details of the maternal side of Rahul Gandhi’s family, however, in a rare interview with Outlook Magazine in 1998, Sonia Gandhi’s father, Stefano Maino, candidly confessed his “unwavering loyalty to Mussolini and Italy’s ‘admirable’ fascist past”.
Maino was not only unapologetic about his support for the fascist leader but he was immensely proud of fighting against the Russian Red Army alongside Hitler’s Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in World War II.
The interviewer also observed that Stefano Maino’s house was festooned with leather-bound speeches and writings of Benito Mussolini, indicating that he was profoundly inspired by the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who teamed up with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and presided over the unprecedented massacre of innocent people, mostly Jews. Maino also held dim views of the then-Italian politicians, saying that “the current Italian government was composed of a bunch of traitors who had betrayed Mussolini and the Fatherland”. Wistfully longing for Mussolini’s rule in Italy, Maino had said that the current crop of Italian politicians was all hopeless except the neo-fascist front. He also advocated authoritarian measures such as forced sterilization.
Even Socia Gandhi herself enjoyed a good personal rapport with authoritarian Russian President Vladimir Putin during the UPA’s years in power. In fact, Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with Putin in St Petersburg was described as one of the most productive meetings to develop India-Russia relations.
