“Save Our Constitution”: Rahul Gandhi’s Call To Congress Workers

On April 18, a day before the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told party workers that this is no ordinary election but one to save the Constitution and exhorted them to tell people that the BJP is “destroying the idea of India”.

Gandhi told the Congress workers that they have a huge responsibility. He addressed them through a video message.

In his message delivered in both Hindi and English, Gandhi said, “You are the backbone of our party. I thought that since it is election time, I should talk to you directly. This is not an ordinary election, this is an election to save the Constitution and democracy in which ‘Babbar Sher’ (lion-hearted) workers like you have a huge responsibility.”

He added, “This is because the thinking and ideology of the Congress party is ingrained in you, it is in your veins.” Gandhi said the BJP-RSS are against the idea of India. He alleged, “They are attacking our Constitution, the country’s democratic structure, our institutions, including the Election Commission, as well as the legal framework of India.”

He told the workers, “You fight against the ideology of the RSS on the streets, in villages, and everywhere. You are the defenders.”

Gandhi said further that the Congress is going to defeat the BJP and its ideology and asked the Congress workers to tell the public that the BJP is attacking India and “destroying the idea of India” as well as the Constitution of the country.

He termed the Congress manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections as excellent and listed the party’s guarantees such as right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, eliminating contract labour, providing 30 lakh government jobs, scrapping the Agniveer scheme, fixing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system and giving Rs 1 lakh annually to one woman from every poor family.

The former Congress chief said, “We have prepared this manifesto after listening to the public. You tell the people of the country about this. You helped us bring key ideas from the people of India into our manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. We rely on you and we love you. I send you my best wishes.”

On April 5, the Congress released its 45-page manifesto for the Lok Sabha, titled ‘Nyay Patra’.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, tagging Gandhi’s video message to workers on X, said, “A day before the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, do watch this video message from Rahul Gandhi. The response coming from the grassroots level shows that Congress workers across the country are very excited about this election.”

He said further, “The Modi government’s departure is certain, now we just (have to) wait for June 4.”

General elections are being held in India from 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on 4 June 2024.

This is the largest-ever election in history, surpassing the 2019 Indian general election, and lasts 44 days, second only to the 1951–52 Indian general election. The incumbent prime minister Narendra Modi, who completed a second term, is running for a third consecutive term.

Approximately 970 million people out of a population of 1440 million people are eligible to vote. The state legislative assembly elections in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim are to be held simultaneously with the general election, along with the by-elections for 25 seats in 12 legislative assemblies.