Factory of lies!

During the campaigning for the Lok Sabha election, the Congress and the I.N.D.I. Alliance demonstrated how desperate and low they could stoop to win power. They even went to the extent to propagate false narratives that the Constitution will be altered, Muslims will be expelled from the country and Dalits’ and tribal peoples’ reservations will be cancelled. And because of these false narratives spread on the social media, the Congress was able to gain 99 seats in the Lok Sabha. Even the common man got enthralled by this continual fabrication. The short-term success of such false propaganda has emboldened Congress prince Rahul Gandhi.

Since Rahul Gandhi is aware that they are unable to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the political arena on any other issue, he is demonstrating his audacity by speaking lies in the Lok Sabha. During the discussion on President’s address, Gandhi crossed all limits of lies. He questioned the Agnipath scheme alleging that the Agniveers are not granted martyr status by the central government. He also claimed that the families of the martyred receive no financial assistance while citing the instance of martyred Agniveer Akshay Gawate from Buldhana. Defence minister Rajnath Singh immediately clarified that Gandhi’s accusation was absolutely untrue. Also, Laxman Gawate, the martyr Agniveer’s father, clarified that they had received Rs 1.10 crore following Gandhi’s assertion. Still, Rahulbaba would not stop lying.

Again, stating ‘Satya ki raksha har dharma ka aadhar hai!’ on his social media account X, Rahul Gandhi asserted that martyr Agniveer Ajay Singh’s family did not get any type of financial support from the Army. However, Ajay Singh’s father confirmed that they had got compensation from the army much before Rahul Gandhi’s allegation. Currently, a video of Ajay Singh’s father, Charanjit Kala pleading not to politicize the situation is being circulated on the social media. Gandhi and his cronies lacked the guts to refute the dead soldier’s father’s assertion that they did receive aid under the Agnipath Scheme. In fact, Ajay Singh’s family received Rs 98.39 lakh under the Agnipath scheme. Also, in the statement issued on July 3, the Army stated that subject to the fulfilment of a few administrative procedures and in compliance with the terms of the Agnipath Scheme, financial aid of Rs 67 lakh and other benefits will be disbursed shortly.

 

The statements by the Army and Ajay Singh’s father will surely make one realize the lengths to which Rahul Gandhi can go in order to disseminate false information from his ‘zhoot ki dukaan’. When Gandhi says ‘satya ki raksha har dharma ka aadhar hai!’, his language befits a great thinker or philosopher. But he also probably would embarrass ‘Goebbels’ when he rampantly propagates lies. It is Gandhi-Nehru family’s sheer misfortune that their prince has grown so eager to return to power that he is resorting to blatant lies.

After losing Centre for 10 years in a row, Rahul Gandhi and other Congressmen are concerned about their future. Congress has also been kicked out of some states. The common citizen is seeing a significant contrast between the country’s growth under the numerous welfare and development schemes launched by the Modi government in the last 10 years vis-à-vis the progress brought about by the Congress, that dominated the nation for decades. The recipients of Modi government’s schemes receive their financial aid straight in their bank accounts without a single penny going into the pockets of the middlemen. Realizing that it is difficult to defeat such a government directly in the electoral battle, the Congress leadership resorts to disseminating false propaganda.

In an attempt to instil fear in the minds of the electorate, they even used artificial intelligence (AI) to circulate a fake video purporting to be of union home minister Amit Shah talking about how the Bharatiya Janata Party needed 400 seats to cancel reservation. Furthermore, the Congress also instilled fear in the minds of the Muslims by proclaiming that they will be forced to leave the nation should the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) take effect. In spite of all these lies, the Congress failed to secure three-digit Lok Sabha seats.

Not just Rahul Gandhi, but even his sister Priyanka demonstrated how equally efficient she is at spreading lies. A few days ago, a canopy at the old departure forecourt of Delhi Airport fell, killing a taxi driver at Terminal 1. In fact, the area where the tragedy occurred was constructed in 2009 under the administration of Dr. Manmohan Singh government. Nevertheless, Priyanka tweeted that the roof that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in March 2024 had fallen.

Annoyed with Modi government’s growing popularity and he winning the election third time despite these lies, the Congress leadership is again coming up with fresh lies from its ‘factory of lies’. Rahul Gandhi even has the audacity to spread misleading information on a hallowed platform like the Lok Sabha. I am confident that eventually, the common citizen will ‘shut’ this ‘factory of lies’ once and for all.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 08 July 2024)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson