Rahul Gandhi says 'Hindu farmers stood up, Hindutvavadi apologised' at Jaipur rally

In a fiery address to Congress supporters in Jaipur, ex-party chief Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, declared 'I do not fear as I am a Hindu, not a Hindutvavadi'. Addressing the massive 'Mehangai Hatao rally', Gandhi claimed that when 'Hindu farmers stood up, the Hindutvavadis had to apologise'. Explaining the difference between Hindu and Hindutvavadi, he slammed the Centre's refusal to provide compensation to 700+ farmers who died in the year-long protest,

Rahul Gandhi: 'Hindu farmers made Hindutvavadis apologise'

"There are two words today in the country - Hindu & Hindutvavadi. I am a Hindu but not a Hindutavadi. Mahatma Gandhi is Hindu, Godse is Hindutvavadi. A Hindu faces his fear while Hindutavadi bows down before his fear, and that fear creates enmity. This is the difference between Hindu and Hindutavadi," said Gandhi.

Explaining why he was raking up Hindu-Hindutva, he added, "This country is of Hindus and not of Hindutavadis. Hindus cannot be suppressed, did not happen in 3000 years and will not happen even today. So Modi ji and his industrialists destroyed this country in 4-5 years, but when Hindu farmers stood in front of Hindutvavadis, PM Modi apologised".

Lashing out at Centre, he went on, "He apologised, but when farmers asked compensation, he refused it. In parliament, Centre said it had no record of the martyrs. I showed a list of 500 farmers from Punjab and 70 names from Haryana and demanded that they compensate them. But PM Modi refused. Do not fear, we will never lose". Congress' Mehangai rally was held in Jaipur and attended by Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan incharge Ajay Maken, Randeep Singh Surjewala etc.

Farmers clear protests site, journey home

On Saturday morning, farmers at Delhi's borders - Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur cleared the area and began returning to their home states after Sanyukta Kisan Morcha called off the farmers' protest. Visuals from the sites show farmers celebrating, holding a 'Victory March', packing tents and moving tractors to Punjab and Haryana - after a year of protests. SKM has stated that it will review the status on January 15 to ascertain if the Centre has fulfilled its demands.

After a year-long protest by farmers, PM Modi announced that the Centre will officially repeal the three farm laws in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament. The Centre has constituted an agricultural committee to strengthen the Minimum Support Price (MSP) structure including 5 members from SKM and is holding talks. Centre passed the bill for the repeal of the farm laws in Parliament on November 29 - the first day of Winter session in Parliament and was later got the President's assent.