Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday tore into the Centre’s Narendra Modi government as he spoke about ‘Two Indias’. Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address in Lok Sabha, Gandhi highlighted how there was ‘no longer one India.’ Hours later, his political adversaries took to Twitter to compare his speech with that of comedian Vir Das, whose monologue on ‘Two Indias’ had left Hindutva supporters incensed.
Speaking in parliament, Rahul Gandhi said, “The first and what I considered to be the most important is the idea that there are now two Indias. There is now no longer one India. There are two Indias. One India is for the extremely rich people- for those who have immense wealth, for those who have immense power, for those who do not need a job, for those who do not need water connections, electricity connections, but, for those who control the heartbeat of the country; and then another India for the poor (disruptions by BJP MPs)…. and for my friends in the government, I want to make it clear that the spirit what I am saying is not one of criticism.
“The spirit with which I speak is one of discomfort with the status, the state of our country, and the spirit with which I speak, is one where I am worried about what is happening in the country. So you must not take it as a criticism, take it as a citizen of the country, who is concerned about what is going on.”
Gandhi later took to Twitter to extend his parliament speech further as he wrote, “There are 2 competing visions of India. One, of a Union of States, where decisions are taken through conversation & negotiation – a partnership of equals. Another, of rule by a Shahenshah’s diktat. This hasn’t worked in 3000 years. BJP’s flawed vision has weakened our nation.”
He added, “Institutions – instruments of conversation between states & people – are being destroyed by BJP’s idea of India. They’ve created a divide where a “Double A” variant of the very richest monopolise all sectors. Yet in “Gareebon ka Hindustan”, 3 crore youth lost jobs in 2021.”
Institutions – instruments of conversation between states & people – are being destroyed by BJP’s idea of India.
They’ve created a divide where a “Double A” variant of the very richest monopolise all sectors.
Yet in “Gareebon ka Hindustan”, 3 crore youth lost jobs in 2021.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 2, 2022
While Gandhi earned plaudits for his fiery speech from his supporters, his political rivals and their social media army took potshots at him by drawing a parallel between his speech and the monologue delivered by Vir Das.
The only main difference between Rahul Gandhi and Vir Das is that Rahul Gandhi can do comedy.
— Varun Kumar Rana (@VarunKrRana) February 2, 2022
The making of two Indias, firstly opposed by @thevirdas, was well exploded by @RahulGandhi today. In short, #RahulGandhi made #VirDas‘s statement easy for the #AndhBhakts to understand.
If they still wish to oppose Vir Das or Rahul Gandhi, blind bhakti of AndhBhakts is incurable
— Nitesh Jain (@TheRebeliousBoy) February 3, 2022
‘Idea of Two India’
First @thevirdas and now @RahulGandhi.
Possibly a single power (a business who has pledged billions to destroy democracies) is controlling the opposition.
Entire opposition has become a puppet of the ‘Leftist Ideology’.
— Abhishek | अभिषेक (@ABHIca92) February 2, 2022
After hearing @RahulGandhi speech it’s pretty easy to connect how impactful @thevirdas has been. Never stop Vir ! People are listening
— Akshay (@ca_ak_) February 2, 2022
In November last year, Vir Das had was widely praised for his viral monologue video titled ‘Two Indias’ highlighting the intrinsic hypocrisy involving the country’s politicians. Speaking at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Das highlighted how he came from India where people worshipped women in the day but gangraped in the night.
