Congress kept democracy intact during its 70-year rule: Ashok Gehlot

Hitting out at the BJP for repeatedly asking the Congress what it did during its 70 years in power, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the grand old party kept the country undivided and democracy intact and it was due to this that new governments were formed.

He said the country got independence because Congress leaders made sacrifices and went to jails.

Gehlot was speaking at a programme held to commemorate the 77th birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

He said it was very easy to ask what the Congress did during its 70 years in power. In these 70 years, the Congress kept the country and democracy intact and further strengthened them.

Unlike Pakistan, India did not fall under military rule, he added.

"Governments in the country keep coming and going. The present government, too, was formed only because the roots of democracy were strong. These people forget this," Gehlot said without naming anyone.

In a democracy, criticism is welcomed but these people cannot tolerate it and consider it sedition, he said, targeting the Centre.

Gehlot said former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed their lives for the nation.

"Our leaders made sacrifices and went to jails and it was because of their sacrifices and struggle that the country got independence," he said.

"The new generation will have to understand this and they will understand when they study history, be it of pre-independence or post-independence era. Those who learn from history are able to make history," he said.

Gehlot said Rajiv Gandhi took hundreds of decisions during his tenure as PM that transformed the country in the following years.

He said the former PM launched various missions, promoted IT and telecom, gave voting rights to youths aged 18 and prepared the nation for the 21st century.

Speaking at the event via videoconferencing, Sam Pitroda, who served as the advisor to Rajiv Gandhi during his tenure as PM, said it was mainly because of Rajiv Gandhi that India was in a leading position globally now.

"His (Rajiv Gandhi's) idea was to improve the health system, education, justice, financial system through e-governance and it really improved productivity while using modern technology and tools," he said.

Rajiv Gandhi had launched six technology missions related to telecommunications, water, literacy, immunisation, dairy production and oilseeds, he added.

Pitroda claimed that today, civil society only has a small role to play and scientific temperament is not being encouraged.

"I am concerned that institutions are being captured today," he said.

If Rajiv Gandhi was around, India would be very different, he added.

During the event, Gehlot also launched the Kisan Sathi portal for the convenience of farmers, an e-booklet prepared by the agriculture department, I-Start virtual incubation centre and announced Rajiv Gandhi Innovation Awards for start-ups.

Born in 1944, Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister from 1984 to 1989. He was assassinated in 1991.