Rahul Gandhi in Kerala: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he was breaking relationships and bridges between the Indian people, and claimed that this was leading to "shattering" of the 'idea of India'.
The Wayanad MP, who was in Kerala for a day, said it was 'arrogance' on the part of the PM to claim that only he knows or understands India and no one else, especially when he was making the claims without finding out about the culture, language, way of life and problems of the people of the various states and religions.
"India is not just a geographical territory, it is the people living here and the relationships they have with each other," Rahul Gandhi said while speaking at the inauguration of a dialysis centre in Malappuram district of Kerala.
"When he (PM) breaks the relationships between Indians, it is my duty, my job, my commitment to repair the bridges between the people. Every time he uses hatred to break bridges, it is my duty to repair them with love and compassion," he added.
The former Congress president also said that he cannot build bridges without understanding the different traditions, ideas, religions and cultures in the country and for that one needs to visit the various states and religious places in the country with humility and the willingness to understand.
"If I go to these places with arrogance, then I am a fool. How can I go to people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, who have a history of thousands of years, and claim to know them. I have to go there with humility. Otherwise, how can I define what India is?"
"Imagine the arrogance of that person who claims - 'I know what India is. I know what people of Kerala need. I know what people of Tamil Nadu need'. Imagine the arrogance of such a person who claims that only he knows what India is and what people of India need. This is another problem that I have with Prime Minister Modi. He is convinced nobody understands this land as he does," the Congress leader said.
The fight here is between humility and arrogance, between temper and compassion, between self-interest and welfare of others, he added.
Rahul Gandhi's attack on the PM Modi comes at a time when he is said to be visiting Kerala to douse the dissent within the state Congress unit.
The Congress leader will be participating in three programmes scheduled for Wednesday at Wayanad. He is likely to spend the night in Kozhikode and will leave for New Delhi on Thursday.