P-A-N-I-C: Rahul spells out BJP’s mood in Karnataka

TIL Desk/National/Bengaluru/ Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on the last day of the campaign trail in Karnataka. With him on the dais is incumbent chief minister Siddaramaiah.

Responding to a barrage of questions on the upcoming elections, the tonality of the rallies, his Italian background, Gandhi said the election was not about him or the Congress, but about the spirit of Karnataka. Excerpts from the presser.

Rahul said his mother, the former Congress president was Italian, but she had spent the better part of her life in India and was more Indian than a lot of Indians. She had suffered for the country.

“Throughout the last 15 years, I’ve been visiting temples, mosques, gurudwaras, every religious institution I come across. BJP doesn’t like this. I don’t think they understand meaning of the term Hindu. It’s a perspective. It’s something which lives with you throughout.”

“We had said that Dalits are being beaten up and oppressed when Rohith Vemula was killed. ModiJi doesn’t say a word. When Dalits are killed and humiliated in other parts of India, Modiji doesn’t say anything. Congress will defend the rights of Dalits and raise this issue.