Constitution is a weapon, but meaningless without institutions: Rahul Gandhi

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that despite being born in the centre of power, he has no greed or temptation for it.

The Congress MP was speaking while launching a collection of essays edited by former IAS officer K. Raju at Jawahar Bhawan.

"There are politicians who are constantly in search of power.... I was born in the centre of power but honestly, it does not interest me at all. On the contrary, I try to understand the people and the country. In the process, I came to know that India is the only country in the world where untouchability still exists. We need to break free from this regressive mindset," he said.

Expressing his gratitude for the constant love that he received from the people, Rahul Gandhi said: "My country has loved me unconditionally for which I shall be indebted eternally. Definitely, there have been times when I have received brick bats as well which caused immense pain but deep within I know that my country wants to teach me, so I try to understand it."

On people being targeted only because they belong to a particular caste or creed he said: "I have also seen times when mobs assaulted innocent people like animals with sticks and batons simply because they belonged to a different caste or religion. This is happening only with Dalits in the country."

K. Raju in his new book "The Dalit Truth: The Battle for Realizing Ambedkar's Vision" has attempted to depict the Dalit voice. It depicts their fight against the mob of Dalit truth and the lies perpetrated by the caste system.

This is the eighth volume of Penguin Random House India's 'Rethinking India' series.

K. Raju, who is also the National Coordinator of Congress's SC, ST, OBC and All India Minority Departments, said: "This book is a companion for the truth seeker who seeks to demolish the caste architecture that engenders inequality and discrimination in society, maintains it."

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the Constitution is a weapon but it is meaningless without institutions, which he alleged have been captured by the RSS.

He also hit out at Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, saying she did not respond to the Congress's offer to contest the Uttar Pradesh polls together.

Rahul Gandhi exhorted Dalits to fight for their rights by treading the path shown by Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.

"The Constitution is the weapon of India but it has no meaning without institutions. The Constitution without institutions has no meaning. We talk of protecting the Constitution. But how is the Constitution implemented? With institutions. All institutions are in the hands of the RSS," he alleged.

Noting that if institutions are not controlled by people, neither is the country, the Congress leader said, "This is not a new assault. It started the day when Mahatma Gandhi was killed with bullets."

He said Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, gave the weapon to people "but today, that weapon has no meaning" as the media is being controlled and a spyware (Pegasus) is being used to control political leaders.

Rahul Gandhi said he would not have been able to speak up against the government had he taken any money and alleged that the CBI and the ED control the political system.

Taking on Mayawati, he said, "We gave a message to Mayawati to form an alliance and asked her to become the chief minister. She did not even talk to us."

Rahul Gandhi said he had respect for Kanshi Ram for articulating the Dalit voice of Uttar Pradesh, due to which the Congress had suffered, and alleged that Mayawati gave a clear passage to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that was because of "the CBI, the ED and Pegasus".

The former Congress chief said people can only fight till such time they speak up or else, institutions will continue to be used and controlled and the Constitution will not be followed.

"This is the reality of India. And when the Constitution becomes defunct, the weak are the worst affected -- Dalits, minorities, tribals, unemployed, small farmers and the poor," he said.

Pointing out to the state of the country's economy, Rahul Gandhi said, "This is the time to fight."

He said Ambedkar and Gandhi had shown that "there is a path, but you need to tread on it. There is a way, but you need to tread that path".

With agencies inputs