Addressing the Congress parliamentary party meeting, Mrs Gandhi said: “When it comes to growth and GDP figures they tout, questions on their veracity are raised even by their own party leaders”.
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“This means that in entire Gujarat, those who are weak, whether they are from any section, those who are poor, are being crushed”, he asserted. “He listened to us patiently and assured us all help so that we can get justice”, Jitu Sarvaiya, a cousin of the victims, told reporters after Gandhi left. “On the one side are (Mahatma) Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, (Jawaharlal) Nehruji, Babasaheb Ambedkar, and on the other hand is RSS, (M S) Golwalkar (Former RSS Chief) and Narendra Modiji”, he said.
Describing the government as a “good marketeer”, the Congress chief said, “We are presented with a government that is anchored in slick marketing events, glib marketing slogans, in repackaging, in embellishment, and exaggeration”.
According to a kin of the victims, Gandhi, who spent around 40 minutes with the family members, said he is “ashamed” that such incidents are taking place in India.
Jitu, 20, is an engineering student and the only educated member of the family.
In response, BJP spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri said: “I want to tell Rahul ji that Ambedkar ji and Nehru ji had different ideologies”.
The interesting point is not whether the case of defamation will ultimately stand or not, but that even the Supreme Court prefers Rahul to say sorry and forget about it when it has not decided whether there has been defamation or not.
“Brutal atrocities against SC, ST and minorities are continuing with impunity and shaming us all”, she added.
Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are keen to make political capital out of the unrest in Gujarat.
“We strongly condemn the Una incident in Gujarat”.
Earlier, Suresh referred to large-scale protests by dalits following the incident and said there was “emergency-like” situation in parts of the BJP-ruled state.
Gandhi expressed solidarity with the victims and also tried to strike a chord with the families by sharing tea in a saucer with the victims. He said that since there were no work avenues they were engaged in the business of skinning skin of dead animals for the tanneries.
The Dalit outfits kept up protests across the state against the assault of some community members on July 11 for allegedly skinning a cow at Una in Gir-Somnath district.
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“Nine people have been arrested so far”.
