Bhopal, Jan. 27 -- Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi claimed on Monday that Dalits, backwards, tribals and poor general-caste people in the country are being made "slaves" again.

He alleged that the ruling BJP's vision for the 21st century is that either they are made to do labour work or sent to jail for raising their voice.

Rahul made a strong push for the Congress's social-justice narrative and accused the BJP-RSS of insulting B R Ambedkar while addressing Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan rally in Mhow, the birthplace of architect of the Constitution.

Lashing out at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat over his remarks that India's "true independence" was established after the concentration of Ram temple in Ayodhya and PM Narendra Modi came, the former Congress chief said, "The statement shows that Bhagwat does not believe in the Constitution, and it is a direct attack on the Constitution and an insult to Ambedkarji's life that was dedicated to making the Constitution."

"Dalits, backwards, tribals and poor general-caste people are being made slaves again," Gandhi claimed.

The Congress leader said that they (BJP-RSS) did not let the tribal president go inside the temple during the concentration and at Parliament's inauguration.

Addressing the rally that saw a big turnout, Gandhi said Dalits, backwards and tribals had no rights before independence when only Maharajas and Rajas enjoyed rights.

"The change was brought with independence. You got land and rights. The BJP-RSS wants an India of pre-independence, where common people had no rights and only the likes of Adani and Ambani had rights. They want the poor to suffer in silence and not dream while the country is run by billionaires," he said.

On one hand, there is the Congress that believes in the Constitution and is fighting for it, and on the other is the BJP and the RSS that are against Ambedkar's and Mahatma Gandhi's Constitution and are trying to destroy it, Gandhi said.

The Constitution is not just a book, but it reflects India's thinking for thousands of years, he said.

Since the BJP wanted to finish off the Constitution, it gave the slogan of "400 paar" in the run-up to last year's Lok Sabha polls intending to change it, Gandhi said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.