Ex-Haryana minister's sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi: 'Don't stage Mahabharat in Lok Sabha'

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's use of 'chakravyuh' metaphor in the Lok Sabha has not gone down well with former Haryana Minister Anil Vij, who asked the former Congress chief not to stage 'Mahabharat' in the Lower House. Vij also said that Gandhi has no knowledge of the Hindu culture. 

"I request Rahul Gandhi to not stage 'Mahabharat' in Lok Sabha. He has no knowledge of our culture," the former minister said. "Lok Sabha is the biggest temple of democracy and people have elected their representatives by voting. In Lok Sabha, there should be a discussion on development."

On Monday, Rahul Gandhi targeted the Modi government and claimed that the fear was spreading through a 'chakravyuh' with everybody trapped in it, including BJP MPs, farmers, and workers. "Thousands of years ago in Haryana, in Kurukshetra, six people killed a youth, Abhimanyu, in a 'chakravyuh'. A 'chakravyuh' has violence and fear. Abhimanyu was trapped and killed in the 'chakravyuh'," he said. 

The former Congress chief's reference was to the Mahabharat legend according to which Abhimanyu was killed in a 'chakravyuh' -- a multi-tiered maze and formation -- in which he was trapped. He said the 'chakravyuh' is also called a 'Padmavyūha' which is a multi-tiered formation that looks like a lotus (the BJP symbol). 

"You build a 'chakravyuh', and we break the 'chakravyuh'," Gandhi said, asserting that the opposition would break this cycle by carrying out a caste census. "In the 21st century, another 'chakravyuh' has been prepared, it is in the form of lotus and the prime minister (Narendra Modi) wears the symbol on his chest. What was done with Abhinmanyu is being done with youth, women, farmers and MSMEs," he said.

Gandhi said the 'chakravyuh' that has captured India has three forces -- the idea of monopoly capital and concentration of financial power; institutions and agencies such as the CBI, ED and IT department; and the political executive. These three together are at the heart of the 'chakravyuh' and have devastated this country, Gandhi alleged. 

"My expectation was that this budget would weaken this 'chakravyuh'. We expected that it would help farmers, labourers and small and medium businesses. But the sole aim of the business is to strengthen the framework of monopoly business, political monopoly and the deep state or the agencies," he said. 

"This 'chakravyuh' attacked and destroyed the small and medium business -- this was done through demonetisation and tax terrorism. The budget did nothing to end this tax terrorism...the finance minister did not say a word on paper leak," Gandhi said. In his address, Gandhi said the INDIA bloc will ensure that farmers get the legal guarantee for MSP. 

(With inputs from PTI)