Speaking in New York’s Javits Centre as part of a six-day US tour, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also criticised the Modi government for Friday’s train catastrophe in Odisha, accusing it of failing to admit mistakes. Rahul Gandhi claimed that the BJP had said that the Congress was to blame for all of India’s ills and issues. “For us, you and millions like you Non-Resident Indians (NRIs ) are brand ambassadors of India. People who represent our country and who represent a particular view of our country. Back at home, there is a fight going on between two ideologies, one that the Congress party represents and the other that the BJP and the RSS represent,” In his remarks, Rahul Gandhi said.

“The easiest way to explain this fight is that on one side you have Mahatma Gandhi and on the other side you have Nathuram Godse,” Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, added in his speech to the Indian diaspora. “On one hand, there is a brave Gandhi, an NRI like you. In fact, probably the most impactful NRI that India has had in many years. A man who believed in the future, believed in India, propagated non-violence and searched for truth. That’s the ideology that the Congress party follows. That is also the ideology that all of you follow,” he added.

“Gandhi ji was a forward-looking, open-minded and modern man. However, Nathuram Godse only spoke of the past. He never spoke of the future. He was angry, hateful and, frankly, he was scared. At his heart, he was a coward. And he was unable to deal with this life,” he mentioned. Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of comparing Nathuram Godse to the former governments and looking backwards. “You all came by car. Imagine if, for 24 hours, you looked in the rear-view mirror, would you be able to drive your car? There would be one accident after the other. That is what Narendra Modi has been doing. He’s trying to drive the Indian car, looking in the rear-view mirror. And he doesn’t understand why this car is crashing,” he stated.

Rahul claimed that the BJP government refused to acknowledge its mistakes, “I remember a train accident when the Congress party was in power. It did not say that the train crashed because of a fault of the British. The then railway minister said, ‘It’s my responsibility and I’m resigning’. So, this is the problem we have back home, we make excuses and do not accept the reality.” “If you ask the BJP anything, they will look back and shift the blame on their predecessors. Ask them how the Odisha train accident happened. They will talk about what the Congress did 50 years ago,” Rahul Gandhi added. Reaching out to NRIs during the course of his address, the senior Congress leader said NRIs were important to the “fight back home”.

Future Gandhis and Ambedkars

Rahul Gandhi remarked in his speech, addressing NRIs as future Gandhis and Ambedkars, “The central architect of modern India was an NRI. The Indian National Movement started in South Africa. Jawahar Lal Nehru was a NRI, BR Ambedkar was a NRI, Sardar Patel was a NRI. People who had an open mind to the outside world.” Rahul Gandhi stated these reasons for travelling to the US: “One of the main reasons I have come here is because I believe that if we want to build an India where the vast majority of our youngsters are employed, one of the things we need to think about is the bridge between India and the US.”