Mumbai, Aug 20 (IANS): Top leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) paid glowing tributes to the late Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi on his 80th anniversary, observed as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day), here on Tuesday.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar, SS (UBT) President and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders remembered the contributions of Rajiv Gandhi to catapult the country to the computer era and fast-paced development during his term (1984-1989).
Addressing a huge gathering, Kharge said that under Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress bagged the maximum ever seats – 415 in the 1985 Lok Sabha elections – but the party never displayed arrogance towards anybody.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party’s PM Narendra Modi gave the slogan of 400 seats (2024 LS polls), but he suffered a setback in Maharashtra. Now, he leads a minority government supported by the Janata Dal (U) and the Telugu Desam Party. Modi is trying to control everything and become a dictator which does not augur well for the country,” warned Kharge.
The Congress chief accused the BJP of uprooting Opposition parties’ governments across states like Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Maharashtra and bagging parties like the Congress, NCP (SP) and SS (UBT) to grab power.
Further criticising the BJP, Kharge said that the people of India restricted it to 240 seats in the LS, and now urged all the MVA allies to unite and uproot it from Maharashtra and other states going for the Assembly polls in the coming months.
Speaking on the occasion, Pawar said that Congress and Rajiv Gandhi had enjoyed a special relationship with Mumbai, he played a big role in the nation-building and gave a new direction to the country.
“Those who are in power today are not aware of the Nehru-Gandhi family’s contributions and it is wrong for PM Modi and his colleagues to take a blind view of those who gave everything for the country. Rajiv Gandhi was obsessed with modernising the country… Nobody can erase the contributions of the Nehru-Gandhi family to building the country from the nation’s history,” declared Pawar.
Thackeray said that though the Congress ruled the country for many decades, it never acted with vendetta towards the (undivided) Shiv Sena, or other Opposition parties in any states, and he crossed 400 seats without resorting to any slogans.
“Rajiv Gandhi was a very decent and cultured person. The ED and CBI never came to the home of the Shiv Sena leaders during Congress rule… There were political differences between us, but not like the BJP which is out to wipe out the Shiv Sena (UBT),” Thackeray pointed out.
The SS (UBT) Chief recalled how, despite his huge majority in Lok Sabha, Rajiv Gandhi had decentralised power and brought in the Panchayat Raj, besides other important initiatives for modernising the country, bringing down the voting age to18, and other decisions with far-reaching implications.
AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala said Rajiv Gandhi was committed to catapulting the country to the 21st century with planned development, empowering the women and youth, computerisation and implementing it accordingly.
“The fruits of his great work in the fields of science, technology, and modernisation are being reaped by the country today, plus he worked to maintain the unity and integrity of the nation. Today, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is following his father’s footsteps and fighting against the forces of disintegration attempting to divide the country on caste-communal lines,” said Chennithala.
Others who spoke included AICC GS Mukul Wasnik, State Congress President Nana Patole, Congress Legislative Party Leader Balasajheb Thorat, Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Vijay Wadettiwar and Mumbai party chief Varsha Gaikwad.