On Sunday (September 24), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced that the I.N.D.I.A. alliance of opposition parties led by the Congress was not preparing to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming elections, but the ‘Indian state’.
While speaking at ‘The Conclave 2023’ organised by Pratidin Media Network in Delhi, he said, “We are not fighting now a political party, we are fighting the Indian state…”He then backed it up with the claim that the I.N.D.I.A. alliance is supposedly fighting to preserve the ‘idea of India.’
The Congress scion alleged that the opposition parties are facing attacks from several corners. “Go and ask any businessman in India what happens to them if they support an opposition party. If they were to write a cheque for any opposition party, ask them what happens to them,” he alleged.
#WATCH | At an event in Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, "Go and ask any businessman in India what happens to them if they support an opposition party. If they were to write a cheque for any opposition party, ask them what happens to them. So we are facing a financial… pic.twitter.com/7uN5WANm67
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2023
“So we are facing a financial attack, a media attack and (still) we’re doing pretty well…I am impressed by the flexibility that all the Opposition parties are showing,” he added.
“We are not fighting now a political party, we are fighting the Indian state and we are fighting to defend the idea of India. And that is why we have given our name I.N.D.I.A,” he was heard as saying.
India is a Union of States, not nation: Rahul Gandhi
This is however not the first time when Rahul Gandhi made contentious remarks about India. In February last year, he challenged the idea of India as a nation.
While speaking in the Parliament, the Congress scion alleged, “India is described in the Indian Constitution as a union of states and not a nation. One cannot rule over the people of a state in India. Different languages and cultures cannot be suppressed. It is a partnership, not a kingdom.”
In his speech, Rahul Gandhi insisted that the power arrangement between the states and the centre is a “negotiation” and insinuated that India did not have a single national identity, instead, the idea of India rose from an agreement or a negotiation between the provincial units.
The Gandhi-scion also brought the reference of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, imagining them to be distinct entities and asserted that the ruling dispensation treated these constitutional units as its kingdom. In May 2022, Rahul Gandhi again claimed that India is a Union of States like the European Union and not a nation like Britain.
For some time now, the Gandhi scion has been steadfast in his attempt to dismiss India’s national identity, routinely asserting that India is just a union of states and not a nation and peddling the left-liberal narrative of India’s non-existence before 1947.
Opposition parties form I.N.D.I.A. alliance
26 opposition parties, including two national and 24 regional parties, have managed to form a coalition to compete against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the general elections of 2024 after high-stakes negotiations that began in April and two crucial meetings in Patna and Bengaluru.
The coalition, known as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), has 142 Lok Sabha MPs including the parties of the chief ministers of seven different States.
