Have huge respect for Sikh community, Rahul Gandhi says in Punjab

HOSHIRPUR, (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he has huge respect for the Sikh community and added India would not be India had it not been for their contribution.

His remarks came in the backdrop of opposition parties in Punjab targeting the Congress and seeking Gandhi’s apology over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

When asked that opposition parties like Shiromani Akali Dal are raising questions on his visit and want him to apologise for the 1984 Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh riots months later, Gandhi replied that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the Parliament had made his and the Congress party’s position very clear.

”Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has also done that and I fully endorse what (former) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ji and Sonia Gandhi ji said. I have also made my stance abundantly clear in the past,” he told a press conference here on the sidelines of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Replying to a question that he appeared to be attempting a ”reconciliation” in Punjab, the Congress MP said, ”I have tremendous affection and I would go even further and say I have tremendous love and affection for the people of Punjab, and in particular the Sikh community. So, reconciliation is a small word.” ”I have love and affection for the people of this state and I have huge respect for the Sikh community for what they have done and for what they are going to do in future,” he said.

”It is an emotional statement. I think India would not be India, had it not been for the Sikh community. You play a central role here and in many ways, you are the part of the backbone of this country and that is something I value tremendously,” said Gandhi.

Replying to a question on infighting in the Punjab Congress during last assembly polls, Gandhi said his party lost the poll because of a lot of anti-incumbency.

”There had been issues between the leadership but these are manageable issues and in coming time, these issues will not be there. There is no such problem and everybody is walking together,” he said.

He further said it has to be accepted that there was an anti-incumbency against the previous Congress government.

”It is a truth and its result was that the AAP won the elections. But now, I feel that the anti-incumbency against the Congress has vanished and now the Congress is to be built and I feel that we will form the next government easily here,” he said.

He slammed the AAP government in Punjab, saying it failed to give a vision to the people of the state.

On a question about Congress leaders joining the BJP and if that has led to a leadership crisis in the party, and the role of Navjot Singh Sidhu once he is out of jail, Gandhi said, ”My experience is pretty much, anybody who goes to the BJP, goes there because of a particular type of pressure.

”It is a hidden pressure you can call it. It is generally a result of pressure from the CBI, pressure from the ED, pressure from cases. So, we are quite happy that these types of people are not in the party anymore and I think, as far as the party is concerned, what I have seen on the streets is tremendous enthusiasm, extremely dynamic workers and a mix of senior and young leaders,” he said.

”So, what I see in the Congress Party is extremely capable leadership all the way from the top to the worker level. So, I am not worried about that. In fact, I am quite happy that some of this sort of riff-raff has gone somewhere else. Everybody will have a role to play. We are a democratic party. We like to involve all people and function together,” he said.

Replying to a question on a man rushing him to hug him during the yatra in Hoshiarpur, Gandhi said, ”I do not know why you are calling that a (security) lapse. I think the person was checked by the security people, he was a bit over-excited. (PTI)

”There is quite a lot of enthusiasm in the Yatra, many people get over-excited and that was the case where he was a bit extra charged up, so there is no problem in that. It has happened many a time before. I wouldn’t call that a security lapse,” said Gandhi.

On the way forward after the yatra culminates in the Jammu and Kashmir later this month, he said, ”For me, the yatra is a way of thinking. It is a way of acting. So, for me personally, it will carry on. For me, walking across this country has been an extremely humbling experience.”