BJP dividing country in name of caste, creed and religion: Rahul Gandhi

Itanagar, Jan 20: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on an over two-month-long 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' (BJNY), on Saturday accused the BJP of dividing the country in the name of caste, creed and religion.

The BJNY, which was flagged off by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge from violence-hit Manipur's Thoubal district on January 14, on Saturday entered Arunachal Pradesh from Assam through the Gumto check gate in Papum Pare district.

While interacting with people in Doimukh, Gandhi claimed that the BJP "instigates people to continue enmity among themselves in the name of religion, caste and language".

He alleged that the BJP "protects the interest of a few millionaires depriving the interest of the poor and Dalits, who are suffering a lot due to the misgovernance of the (Narendra) Modi government".

"The Congress to unite the people and to highlight their miseries and economic problems launched the country-wide 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' after the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'," the former Congress President said.

He said that the then Congress government led by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on February 20, 1987, accorded a full-fledged state to Arunachal Pradesh.

"We (Congress) gave statehood to Arunachal Pradesh and we are always ready to raise any issues of the state for the betterment of the people and the state," said Gandhi, who was accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh state Congress President and former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.

Saying that the BJP and its government were "neither ready to listen to the people's grievances nor did the media raise their issues", Gandhi told the gathering that during the yatra "we are travelling for hundreds of kilometres in several hours to hear the views, pain and sufferings of the people".

The Congress leader will leave the Arunachal capital on Sunday morning through Hollongi and resume his yatra in Assam, where he will travel till January 25, when the BJNY will enter North Bengal.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh separately told the media that Gandhi will be paying obeisance at the birthplace of Vaishnavite scholar Srimanta Sankardeva in Assam's Nagoan district on January 22, the day scheduled for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

"Srimanta Sankardev was a 15th-16th century Assamese saint-scholar and his life and ideals still touch crores of people across the country. His ideals are more prevalent today,” he pointed out.