HT Correspondent
DIMAPUR, April 9: Exuding confidence that the Congress Party and the INDIA bloc would get a clear majority in the 2024 Loka Sabha elections, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said the road to that majority will begin from Nagaland.
With Nagaland having only one Lok Sabha seat, Ramesh said every vote and every seat counts as the country is at a turning point.
“That is why I have started my election campaign in Nagaland from Dimapur. I turned 70 today, and I am celebrating my 70th birthday in Dimapur,” the senior Congress leader said while addressing a press conference at the Congress Bhavan here.
Saying that the 2024 election is a battle between unity and uniformity, he said while the Congress wants to celebrate India’s diversity, the BJP wants to impose artificial uniformity.
He added that the BJP’s long-term and real game plan is one nation, one language, one nation, one election, one nation, one religion, one nation, and one culture.
Ramesh said while the Congress wants to strengthen unity in the country by celebrating its diversity, the BJP wants to impose artificial uniformity.
Citing the removal of Article 370 from the Constitution by the BJP government, he said their next target is Article 371. He said Article 371 (A) that protects the cultures, languages, religions and ownership and transfer of land of Nagaland is under threat.
Ramesh said this Lok Sabha election in Nagaland is between unity and uniformity, for survival and protection of Article 371 (A), permanent peace and return to social harmony, progress and prosperity, jobs for youth and preservation of democracy and democratic institutions.
He said the Congress is fighting for justice for women, youth, farmers and workers and social justice for all sections of our society, particularly the SC, ST and backward classes.
“You will not hear the PM speaking about these issues,” he stated.
Ramesh said the people of country are fed up of 10 years of Modi’s injustice, false promises, lies and defamations, adding they want to give a long retirement to the PM on June 4.
He added that the Congress is the only party in Nagaland, the northeast and the rest of India that is keeping the democracy alive.
He called the BJP ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in Nagaland a hotchpotch of opportunists and people who need protection from ED, CBI and Income Tax.
Ramesh said the NDPP is a washing machine of the BJP and that the Congress is fighting this washing machine in Nagaland.
