Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday dubbed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's repeated stress on development as a mask for his communal agenda and clubbed RSS with the Muslim League as outfits that did not participate in the Independence struggle.
Launching a scathing attack on the Modi government, Sonia said when opposition and diversity of views are treated as sedition, the country remembers the 'achche din' of Nehru era when every citizen could speak freely and "mann ki baat" was not just a radio broadcast. She dismissed Modi's "sabka saath sabka vikas" slogan as "vikas" of 2-4 select capitalists.
The parody of the PM's buzzwords marked the core of a Congress pincer attack, pitting Modi against Nehru, at a function to commemorate the first Prime Minister's birth anniversary. The party also organized a cultural evening at Nehru Park, attended by the leadership. The morning function started with a brief silence in memory of the victims of Paris attack.
While Sonia and Rahul accused the government of fomenting communal hatred, Manmohan Singh said, "Jo vikas ke naam par apni dukaandari chamkane ki baat karte hain.... but the truth is that Nehru started the thought about India's development."
The mocking jibe from a reticent Singh, coming barely after Modi at a rally in London showcased himself as a champion of development agenda, reflected the confidence in Congress after the Bihar results. Rahul said the party had stopped the RSS ideology in partnership with Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, and would follow suit in other states.
Sonia said two outfits boycotted Gandhi's Quit India call, one of which created Pakistan and another which is the real "remote control" behind BJP - a reference to Muslim League and RSS without naming them once.
"No matter how hard the government tries to change history, it cannot change this history," she said, adding that RSS, which had arrogated to itself the right to issue "certificates on patriotism", had "collaborated with the British and had not held a single protest or raised a single slogan" against the imperial powers.
In a reference to beef row and surging pulse prices, she said while people were being told what to eat, the government was not telling how to eat "dal" that has breached Rs200 per kg.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, referring to the PM's comments in England, said Modi calls India tolerant when he is on foreign soil but does not say so in the Indian Parliament, even keeping quiet when kids were burnt in Faridabad and over Dadri lynching.
Rahul accused the government of ignoring the issues raised by the opposition, reminding that Nehru would listen to Atal Bihari Vajpayee even when he stood up as a single MP in parliament.
Congress leader Anand Sharma slammed the government and RSS for "attacking" the legacy of Nehru and criticised the PM for "not taking even Nehru's name" during interactions at the India Africa Forum Summit even as African representatives heaped praise on the first PM.
Sonia accused the government of subverting institutions with individuals decorated by the government returning their awards. She noted that Nehru was the first president of the Sahitya Akademi and had openly stated that his primary job would be to save the Akademi from the PM.