Pradhan dubs Cong rally as ‘political tourism' by ‘prince'
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Bhubaneswar: Union minister
Dharmendra Pradhan
on Friday criticised the 'Samvidhan Bachao' rally of Congress in Bhubaneswar, addressed by
Rahul Gandhi
and Mallikarjun Kharge, as mere "political tourism" by the "Congress prince".
Pradhan accused the Congress of using "vote theft" as a new excuse following repeated electoral defeats, particularly with the upcoming Bihar election in mind. He asserted that the people of Odisha and the nation have seen through the Congress's tactics and will continue to reject what he described as anti-people and anti-constitutional forces.
The minister's comments came as Rahul vowed to prevent any repeat of alleged electoral misconduct in Bihar, similar to what he claimed occurred in Maharashtra.
In an X post, Pradhan wrote the Congress rally is not about "saving the Constitution" but rather "saving Rahul and Congress". He wrote, "The unwavering public trust in Odisha's BJP govt is troubling Congress. Congress has no presence or existence in Odisha, as the poor, Dalits, tribals, farmers, and labourers of Odisha rejected Congress decades ago.
Rahul's talk about the interests of Odisha's poor is nothing but a deception."
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Stating that Congress has historically always neglected the rights of the poor and marginalised sections, the minister said the money sent by Congress govts from Delhi was often looted by middlemen and they used SC, ST and backward classes as a vote bank. "Clearly, the rights of the poor and the land of the tribals are safe only when Congress is not in power," he wrote.
"Congress faced crushing defeats in states like Maharashtra and Haryana, after which Rahul and Kharge blamed the Election Commission and democratic institutions for their loss.
It is ironic that the Congress party, which imposed an emergency on the country by strangling democracy and trampling the Constitution, is now preaching about saving the Constitution," he said.
Making similar observations, deputy chief minister K V Singh Deo said the rally was political theatre in its most familiar form. "Ironically, the party that now claims to 'save the Constitution' is the very one that has amended it more than any other — not always in the spirit of strengthening democracy, but often to serve narrower political ends," he said. "'Thotha chana baje ghana' (empty declarations echo loudest).
But the people of Odisha vote not on noise — they vote on merit. And they continue to choose progress over posturing," he added.
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