By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi : Launching a full broadside on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS after the “unceremonious” exist of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Saturday said BJP and RSS got a lesson from Karnataka which are trying to destroy the country’s institutions. He also said the message from Karnataka is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not “bigger than India”.
Addressing a press conference here at the Party headquarters shortly after Yeddyurappa resigned ahead of the crucial trust vote in the newly elected assembly, a combative Gandhi said the PM’s talks of corruption is hollow as he “promoted corruption in Karnataka to gain support for the BJP”.
“The Prime Minister is encouraging corruption…,”
The BJP, which emerged the single-largest party amid split verdict thrown up by the May 12 assembly election, has failed to not muster the requisite numbers in the newly elected assembly for forming the government.
He congratulated members of his party and the Janata Dal-Secular for standing up to the pressure and not allowing the BJP to wean away their MLAs.
“I hope the BJP and the RSS learnt lessons that institutions of the country and the will of the country cannot be disrespected,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi also thanked the people of Karnataka for “giving the Congress-JD(S) alliance the mandate” and said opposition parties will work together to stop the BJP and RSS.
“My message to the PM Modi is that the Prime Minister is not bigger than the people of India than the Supreme Court or the members of Parliament.”
Brimming with the confidence, Congress chief reiterated the allegations that the BJP was trying to poach Congress and JD(S) legislatures.
“The idea that PM Modi is fighting corruption is a lie. He is corruption. He is doing everything to subvert the institutions of India.”
He accused RSS and BJP of destroying the institutions.
“There is no Institution in this country that is worthy of the respect from the Prime Minister, Shri Amit Shah and the RSS. They believe that every single Institution can be destroyed and stepped upon by them. They disrespect the mandate of the people of Karnataka, they disrespect the mandate of the people of Goa, and they disrespect the mandate of the people of Manipur and Meghalaya- one after the other, one after the other,” Gandhi said.
Yeddyurappa was forced to resign as the chief minister a day after the Supreme Court directed him to take the floor test on Saturday. The Congress had knocked the doors of Apex court after Governor Vajubhai Vala invited Yeddyurappa to form a government in Karnataka and prove his majority within 15 days.
When asked whether the Governor of Karnataka should resign, Gandhi said it is not an issue.
“The bigger issue is that there is no Institution in this country that is immune today from the assault of the BJP-RSS. The Governor, with all due respect, has no choice. Even if you make the Governor resign and replace him with a new man, that man will also behave the same as this man has behaved. It is because he has no power anymore. The power is now completely controlled by the Prime Minister and by the RSS”.
Now the Congress and JD(S) which formed a post-poll alliance having 115 seats in the 222-seat assembly, is all set to assume power in Karnataka.