Love is our lens to approach politics: Rahul

· Says, ruling dispensation’s lens is fear, anger, hatred

· Hatred cannot be disrupted with hatred, but with love

Emphasising the need for love and harmony in modern day politics, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi today said that hatred cannot be disrupted and defeated with hatred, but only by love. He alleged that the “opposition’s” (referring to Congress’ political opponents) lens was fear, anger and hatred while that of the Congress was love.

Addressing the Bharat Summit 2025 here today, Rahul Gandhi said that democratic politics had fundamentally changed across the globe. “Rules that applied a decade ago, simply do not apply any more”, he remarked, while adding, “what was effective ten years ago and the tools that worked ten years ago, simply don’t work today”.

The senior Congress leader underlined the need for direct communication with the people, while narrating his experiences of the 4,000 kilometer-long Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

He said, when the Congress felt completely “trapped in isolation” due to the new type of aggressive politics, where the opposition is not talked to and is rather crushed as all avenues like media were compromised, the party adopted upon the idea of direct communication with the masses.

He disclosed that he learnt “our opposition across the world has a monopoly on anger, fear and hatred. And there is no way that we are going to compete with them on anger, fear and hatred as they are going to outdo us”.

He said the party looked for the space where it had the advantage to build a counter-narrative of love against hatred, anger and fear. He emphasised that it was essential to listen to the people.

With an oblique reference to the ruling dispensation, Gandhi remarked tauntingly, “our opposition does not know how to listen as they have all the answers”.

He said it was very important to listen to people, as they want to be heard. He cited the example of a woman who came rushing to meet him during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, to tell him how much she was harassed by her husband. He disclosed that the moment she narrated her pain, she felt relieved. And that is what people want; they want to be heard, he noted.

Underlining the need for love and harmony, he observed, “no matter how much hatred someone spreads, the biggest way to disrupt them is not by fighting or responding with hatred, but with love”.

The senior Congress leader maintained that while the lens of the Congress’ opponents (the ruling dispensation) was one of hatred, fear and anger, “ours should be that which cuts their lens. Our lens should be love and affection, listening to the wishes and the will of the people we are supposed to represent”.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and several delegates from various countries also addressed the summit.