Rahul Gandhi has been a man of fine tastes and politics, is just a family business that he had to take up, it would seem like. Ahead of New Years’ Eve, Rahul Gandhi has left the storm he created in India by lying about the farm laws and has flown to Italy to allegedly meet his grandmother. The mother of Sonia Gandhi, who is originally from Italy, still lives there and Rahul Gandhi seems to have flown down to meet her.
After media reports emerged that Rahul Gandhi had left for Milan, Italy, on an impromptu surprise vacation in middle of Punjab farmers vs Govt of India farm laws tussle, Congress trolls kept themselves busy trying to refute these as ‘fake news’. Rahul Gandhi loyalist Saket Gokhale cried himself hoarse claiming that Rahul Gandhi has not gone for vacation.
However, the trolls were left red faced after Congress accepted that Rahul Gandhi has indeed gone off on a ‘personal trip’. While the party did not disclose the destination of his vacation, they have not denied Milan in Italy as the destination either. Congress also celebrates its 136th foundation day today.
While the Congress cried victim and claimed that poor Rahul was being victimised for simply going to meet his grandmother, it is pertinent to note that only did he miss the Foundation Day of Congress, he has also conveniently created trouble in India and himself escaped to Italy.
However, while fanning these protests and spreading fake news, he forgot that for politicians to gain mileage out of throwing the nation into chaos, they actually need to show up for the chaos too.
Reacting to Gandhi’s visit, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that the Congress leader neither visited their protest site nor spoke to them.
“Rahul Gandhi neither appeared anywhere in the farmers’ dharna nor did he talk to anyone … Our opposition is very weak,” he said.
It is pertinent to note here that BKU as an organisation had extended support to Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, it is now interesting that their leader has openly spoken, expressing disenchantment with Rahul Gandhi never really appearing to either speak to them or meet them, while fanning these protests from afar.
The Congress party and its leaders, especially Gandhi have been targeting the Centre over three agriculture-marketing laws and have extended support to agitating farmers.
On Thursday, the Congress leader met President Ram Nath Kovind as part of his party delegation and urged that a session of Parliament should be convened to revoke the three agriculture laws.
Earlier, the former Congress chief had said that accepting anything less than the complete withdrawal of “black farm laws” would be a betrayal of India and its farmers.
Interestingly, while Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have been fanning these protests and lying through their teeth about the laws, the Congress manifesto for 2019 promised exactly these reforms.
The Congress went so far as to dismiss the Essential Commodities Act of 1955 as belonging to the “age of controls.” Imagine the situation when the Congress manifesto appears to take a potshot at Nehru.
It doesn’t end here. There is also an extensive trail of evidence of Dr. Manmohan Singh advocating for states to amend the APMC act and give more freedom to the farmer (see here in 2012 and here in 2009). But in typical UPA fashion, he didn’t actually get anything done. And now when the Modi government has implemented their own manifesto item, the Congress opportunistically has a problem with it.
While the Congress has no problem doing u-turns to ensure chaos ensued in the country, Rahul Gandhi seems to give preference to travelling to Italy, and the farm organisations are not happy.
