Imphal: Joining a bandwagon of BJP leaders, especially the Northeast Chief Ministers, Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson and Manipur in-charge Sambit Patra said that excluding the Northeast region in the ‘Union of States’ tweet of Rahul Gandhi’s is an insult to the entire population of the region.
On Thursday, 10 February Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared a tweet mentioning India’s strength of union as the union of culture, languages, people, diversity and states.
In writing about the union of states, he said that from Kashmir to Kerala, from Gujarat to West Bengal, India is beautiful in all its colours. He further urged the people not to insult the spirit of the country.
“Mr Rahul Gandhi, is this India? Is this all of India? Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Bengal…are all a part of India. But where is my northeast? You should feel ashamed of it, Mr Rahul Gandhi,” Patra said while speaking at the launch of ‘Creative Campaign’ programme of the BJP.
The saffron leader said Rahul Gandhi and his party Congress had been ruling Manipur for 15 years and other northeastern states, but now he has thrown away the entire northeast from his dictionary, tweet and vocabulary. This is an insult to every Manipuri. He should apologise for insulting every Manipuri, he said.
He further mocked that for Congress and Rahul Gandhi, the word – ‘NE’- means ‘non-existent’, but for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ‘NE’ means ‘new engine’. “That’s the reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced Rs 1500 crore in the Union Budget for development of the northeast region under ‘PM-DevINE’ (Prime Minister Development Initiative for the North East) project,” Patra continued.
Earlier, Chief Ministers of Assam, Tripura and Manipur had slammed the former Congress president and pointed out that the Gandhi scion missed the northeast in his tweet.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote: “India is far beyond just a union. We are a proud nation. Bharat cannot be held hostage to your tukde tukde philosophy. What is your problem with Nation, Nationality and Nationalism: And hello– beyond Bengal, we North east exist.”
“When the existence of this region is not even acknowledged, how is Congress asking for votes to the people of Manipur for the upcoming election? Who is dividing the Nation?” ask Chief Minister N Biren Singh of Manipur.
“In order to preach, Mr Rahul Gandhi has forgotten our beautiful North Eastern States. Just like his great grandfather, he excluded our region? We are also a proud part of India. Your ignorance is the reason for your party’s total wipe out from the northeast,” Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted.
