INDIA is ‘anti-alliance’, suppressing press freedom in Congress’ DNA: Thakur
Union minister Anurag Thakur lashed out at the Congress, claiming its leaders are ashamed of Sanatan Dharma and want to eradicate
Union youth affairs minister Anurag Thakur on Friday termed the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as ‘anti-alliance’ as their “approach is ‘anti’ for everything.”
Thakur, while addressing the newspersons in Rajasthan’s Udaipur during the ongoing Parivartan Yatra organised by the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said: “INDIA should be called anti-alliance. They are anit-media, anti-democracy, anti-dalit, anti-tribal, anti-national, anti-sanatan, and also anti-constitution.
Comparing the Oppositions’ grand alliance’s move to blacklist 14 news anchors shows with Indira Gandhi’s emergency period, Thakur said that “suppressing the media’s voice is deeply rooted in Congress’s DNA.”
“In 1975, the Congress leader (and then prime minister) Indira Gandhi attempted to destroy the press freedom during the emergency. Congress again set another example of choking the media’s voice through this decision. When the entire world is celebrating international democracy day, Congress and its INDIA alliance are planning how to crush it,” said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, calling the Congress’s recent move an ‘Emergency 2.0’.
The INDIA bloc recently unveiled a list of 14 television anchors and announced they will boycott shows hosted by these news anchors.
The bloc has decided not to participate in the prime-time debates anchored by 14 television anchors.
Thakur further lashed out at the Congress, claiming its leaders are ashamed of Sanatan Dharma and want to eradicate it.
Taking a dig at Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi, he said: “Rahul went to open ‘Mohabbat-ki-Dukaan’. But launched an entire mega ‘mall of hatred’ that enables them to crush the existence of Hindus and uproot the Sanatan Dharma.”
Referring to Rahul and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s visits to Rajasthan in the recent past, when the cases of rape and other acts of violence rose, Thakur said, “Why he (Rahul) is silent now? His silence proves how he distributed the license of hatred and destruction of democracy. Violating Article 25 (Right to exercise any religion), and 19 (Freedom of speech), he kept insulting Babasaheb Ambedkar.”
Addressing the rising number of crimes in Rajasthan in the last five years, Thakur also labelled the chief minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government as the “most worthless government since the independence.”
“To protect his chair and the CM post, he (Gehlot) kept looting the women’s respect and kids’ lives. His party leaders from Delhi (Priyanka and Rahul) visited Banswara and Tonk but not Bhilwara, where a woman was gang-raped only a day before Priyanka’s visit. But she will go to Uttar Pradesh (a state under the BJP-led government of Yogi Adityanath) and say- I am a woman, I can fight,” commented Thakur.
Holding the Gehlot-led government accountable for the indefinite strike by the Petrol pump owners in Rajasthan, He said, “While the Opposition-ruled states have increased the value-added tax (VAT) imposed in their states, the BJP-ruled states have reduced VAT. Petrol is the most expensive in Rajasthan. People of Rajasthan cross their border to to buy petrol. It is only because Gehlot enabled the rampant loot in his state.”
Further praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of ‘one nation- one election’, Thakur claimed it as “a time-saving move” for the country. “Spending the entire year after the election doesn’t make any sense. It is a sheer waste of money and time. ‘One nation one election’ will be good for the country, and its taxpayers and will also be helpful to run a better administration,” said Thakur.
Responding, Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said, “Congress has always respected media as the fourth pillar of the democracy. Rather, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government always tried to suppress press freedom, following which media fears to tell the truth. INDIA is rather pro-media, pro-democracy, pro-people, and pro-development ever.”