In the run-up to him taking over the Congress, the party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s public interactions in US are being showcased as an alternative vision to the BJP.

After talking about dynasty politics and unemployment in Ivy League universities, Rahul concluded his visit on Thursday by focussing on the BJP’s “divisive” politics, which he said is “ruining” India’s global reputation as a peaceful and harmonious nation”.

Addressing about 2,000 supporters at a hotel ball room near the iconic Times Square, Rahul talked about the dangers of divisive politics in a diverse country like India.

“For thousands of years, India has had a reputation of peace and harmony. This is being challenged. There are forces in our country that are dividing it. And it is very dangerous for the country and it ruins our reputation abroad,” he said.

Connecting with diaspora

Rahul tried to find a connect with the NRI community which has traditionally been supportive of the BJP. He said the original Congress movement was an NRI movement because all its important leaders were educated abroad and worked overseas.

He urged the diaspora in the US to come forward with their ideas for another movement of transforming the country.

“Mahatma Gandhi was an NRI. Jawaharlal Nehru came back from England. Ambedkar, Patel, Maulana Azad, everyone of them went to the outside world, saw the outside world, returned to India and used some of the ideas that they had got and transformed India,” Rahul said.

“And wherever I went, you made me feel proud to be an Indian,” Rahul said as he praised the Indian community’s contribution to the country’s progress.

“So, I would like to start by telling you, that you are actually the backbone of our country,” he said.

Asserting that India’s reputation in the world is very important, Rahul said the world is transforming itself and people are looking to India for guidance.

“Many countries in a violent world are looking towards India and saying — maybe India has the answer for peaceful coexistence in the 21st century. So we cannot afford to lose our most powerful asset,” said the Congress leader.

Powerful asset

India’s most powerful asset is its 1.3 billion people living happily, non-violently and peacefully, he said.

“And the world respected us for that. India is a country that belongs to all its people,” he said.

Sharing his experience about the trip, Rahul said most of the people he met in the US asked him, ‘What has happened to the tolerance that used to prevail in India?’

“I must tell you, I was very surprised because before I could even tell them what I was feeling, before I could even tell them what I was worried about, they told me exactly the same thing,” he said.