Congress accuses centre of dividing society

NEW DELHI: Verbal attack on the Modi government, high drama and some embarrassing glitches marked Rahul Gandhi-led Congress’ ‘day-long’ hunger strike at the Mahatma Gandhi Samadhi in New Delhi on Monday as part of the nation-wide event the party organised for social harmony and communal brotherhood. The party accused the NDA government of dividing the country on religion-caste lines and discriminating against Dalits, Tribals and minorities.

While the satyagraha and hunger strike, political tools patented with conviction by the Father of the Nation, was to be held between 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, the Congress president joined party leaders and workers around 1 pm. “The entire country knows that PM Modi is anti-Dalit, it is not a secret...The BJP follows ideology of oppressing Dalits, Tribals, minorities. We will stand against that mindset. We will defeat it in 2019 general polls,” Gandhi said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress experienced the perils of living in times of the all-prevalent smartphone cameras and overarching social media when photos of Delhi leaders Ajay Maken, Arvind Singh Lovely and Harun Yusuf tucking away ‘chole bhature’ at a city restaurant went viral.

They tried to defend it by saying the meal was before the fast commenced. Then came a perfect diversionary theme, when senior leaders accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, had to be persuaded to leave the fasting venue after TV channels started focusing on their past than the event of the day.