Making a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remark that "Rajas and Maharajas used to take away lands", Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 28 said that Rahul Gandhi doesn't speak a word on the atrocities committed by the "Nawabs, Nizams, Sultans, and Badhshahs".
PM Modi said that the statement was instead intended at appeasing a certain 'vote bank'.
Addressing a mega public meeting at Belagavi in Karnataka, PM Modi said, “The Shehzada of the Congress said recently that our Rajas and Maharajas back in the day were ruthless. They snatched or took away the humble assets of the poor at their whim. The Shehzada insulted the revered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and RChennamma, whose good governance and patriotism still fill us with national pride and honour. Does he not have any knowledge of the contribution of the royal family of Mysuru who we all regard very highly and are proud of?”
He further claimed that the Congress leader was silent on the excesses and atrocities committed by Muslim emperors on their peasants. Additionally, he said, “The Shehzada was carefully calibrated, on purpose, to appease a certain vote bank. He did not utter a single word on the atrocities committed by the Nawabs, Nizams, Sultans, and Badhshahs (on their peasants). The Congress seems to have forgotten the grave excesses perpetrated by (Mughal emperor) Aurangzeb, who destroyed thousands of our temples.”
PM Modi also invoked the glorious legacies left behind by Hindu rulers and emperors, adding that all that Rahul Gandhi cares about is his ‘vote bank’.
Furthermore, the prime minister said, “The Benaras Hindu Unversity (BHU) could not have been established without the help of the king, who ruled the city back in the day. Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda had helped Baba Saheb Ambedkar pursue his higher studies abroad. The Congress' Shehzada knows nothing about this and is making public statements that are aimed at advancing the party's vote bank politics. The Congress is in an alliance with parties that glorify Aurangzeb. They don't talk about kings who destroyed our pilgrimage sites, looted them, killed our people while also slaughtering livestock.”
Earlier, Rahul, while addressing a public meeting in the state said, “Many Rajas, Maharajas ruled us back in the day. They did whatever they wished and took away the land of their peasants at will. It was the Congress and its workers who, along with freedom fighters, brought us independence from our oppressors and restored democracy and the rule of law to the country.”