Gurugram, May 8 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday repeated his allegation that the BJP had “stolen” elections in Haryana and also manipulated Assembly polls in West Bengal and Assam, while calling upon young Congress leaders across states to lead Sadbhav Yatras to counter what he described as the politics of hatred and division.

Addressing a Sadbhav Yatra event here, Rahul Gandhi alleged that West Bengal and Assam had now been added to the list of states such as Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra, where, according to him, elections were manipulated by deleting the names of lakhs of voters from electoral rolls.

“They have prepared a system to steal elections. They delete lakhs of names or add lakhs of names. The Election Commission and bureaucracy are under their control, and they think that their rule will last forever,” he said.

“Let me tell you, their time is going to end soon because they will have to face public anger,” Gandhi said, adding that people had realised that BJP leaders were harming the country by selling infrastructure assets, airports and power plants to private players.

“Now, their latest target is to sell off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” he said, referring to the Great Nicobar Project aimed at developing the island region into a strategic maritime hub.

Sharing the Congress party’s resolve to defeat the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said: “Whatever happens, this is a battle of ideologies. In this country, only two ideologies are in conflict. One is the ideology of the RSS based on hatred and division, and the other is the ideology of the Congress Party based on love and unity.”

“You will see that all other parties will not be able to stand in front of them. None of them will survive in the end. Ultimately, only the Congress Party will stand, and the Congress Party will defeat them… I repeat what I am saying: the Congress Party will defeat them,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi further alleged that by attacking democratic institutions, the BJP had also attacked the Constitution framed by Dr B.R. Ambedkar and deprived people of their rights.

Speaking at the culmination of the Sadbhav Yatra led by Hisar leader Brijendra Singh, who covered 72 Assembly constituencies in 183 days, Rahul Gandhi said unemployment remained the biggest issue in Haryana, with educated youth struggling to find jobs despite obtaining degrees from private colleges.

He alleged that small industries were being shut down to benefit large businesses and claimed that Chinese products were increasingly being sold in the country while young people were simultaneously being pushed towards social media addiction.

Rahul Gandhi also criticised the India-US trade deal, accusing the government of compromising the interests of Indian farmers.

Addressing party workers, Rahul Gandhi urged Congress leaders across states to undertake yatras, saying such outreach programmes helped leaders understand public sentiment and connect with people directly.

–IANS

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