New Delhi: Lashing out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said they coined the term ‘vanvasis’ (forest dwellers) for ‘adivasis’ (original inhabitants) but gives away their land to industrialist Gautam Adani. Addressing his first public rally after being reinstated as a member of Lok Sabha in poll-bound Rajasthan's Banswara district, Gandhi said, "Once I asked my grandmother (Indira Gandhi) about the word 'Adivasi', and she said that these people are the first inhabitants of this country...Now BJP has introduced a new word 'Vanvasi'. They say that these people are not Adivasi but Vanvasi. This is disrespect to the community. They want you (Adivasi) to live in the forests. They call you Vanvasi but then give your lands to Gautam Adani...This is your country and you should get all the rights."
The rally marks the occasion of the World Tribal Day as well as the beginning of the party's campaign for the state polls due later this year. Slamming the BJP, Gandhi said that the saffron party believes that the tribals should remain in forests and not have a stake on the larger Indian territory.
Further taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the government's handling of the Manipur situation, the Congress MP said that if PM Modi wants, he can "douse the fire in 2-3 days". "Bharat Mata was killed in Manipur...If the PM wants, he can douse the fire in Manipur in 2-3 days. But PM Modi wants the fire to burn. PM has not uttered a word on it," Gandhi said.
He addressed the public meeting at Mangarh Dham, which is significant because in 1913, hundreds of tribal people led by Govind Guru were killed in firing by Britishers. It is located near the Rajasthan-Gujarat border.
In November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed a rally at Mangarh Dham. The place is also close to Madhya Pradesh, where the assembly polls will be held later this year.
Banswara, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, and Pratapgarh are the tribal districts of Rajasthan and Congress workers from these areas attended the rally.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member on March 24 after he was convicted by a Gujarat court in the defamation case over his Modi surname remark. The court had sentenced him to two years in jail. A punishment of two years and above automatically disqualifies a lawmaker.
Senior party leader Sachin Pilot said the restoration of Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership will re-energise party workers and strengthen the opposition INDIA alliance. Speaking to the media, he said, "The Supreme Court court order has shown that democracy is still alive and the voice of a leader cannot be suppressed by hatching a conspiracy."
He also thanked the top court for staying Rahul Gandhi's conviction.
Rahul Gandhi returned to Lok Sabha after his membership was restored on Monday, days after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction. He also attended the Lok Sabha proceedings on Tuesday as the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Modi government began in the House.