New York: Addressing the Indian Diaspora in New York on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the key architects of contemporary India were all Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who kept an open mind about the outside world.
The Congress leader, who is on the last legs of his ongoing three-city tour of the US, said all prominent leaders associated with the country's freedom struggle, including Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhash Chandra Bose, were NRIs who kept an open mind about the outside world. "The central architect of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi, was an NRI. The foundation for India's freedom movement was laid in in South Africa...Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, all were NRIs and had an open mind about the outside world," he said.
His remark assumes significance as the BJP, which holds the reins of administration at the Centre, has often accused him of sullying India's image on foreign soil. The saffron party has also alleged a larger global narrative to defame India.
Continuing with his offensive against the saffron party, the Congress leader said the country faces a battle between two ideologies -- one espoused by the Congress and the other by the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"There is a fight between two ideologies in India -- one that we (Congress) represent and other that is espoused by the BJP and the RSS," the Congress leader claimed.
Further, he added that the principles and ideology that the Congress holds dear are the same as that of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
He claimed that the ideas espoused and propagated by the BJP and RSS were that of Nathuram Godse, a rightwing leader who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.
"The ideology that we follow is the ideology of the Mahatma Gandhi, an NRI and a kind and a simple man who propagated non-violence and had a lifelong quest for the truth. However, the ideology that BJP and RSS follow is that of Nathuram Godse, a violent and angry man unable to face the reality of his own life," Rahul claimed.
—ANI